F-Zero --Seppuku : Part 2 of 3
by Siontix
Summary: The gang war is over, both the Bloody Chain and Red Star crushed... Chiya Flower went from a homeless bum with a dark past, to someone now with an F-Zero machine of her own. She now desires to become an F-Zero racer as the next Grand Prix approaches, little does she know-a new adventure awaits! Read this story on Deviantart if you desire pictures to go with the chapters.
1. Prologue

_Highly recommended that you read Part 1 of 3 before reading this-this is not mandatory however._

==Prologue=

Red Canyon, a desert-like area near the coast of Japan. Red Canyon was situated next to one of the largest cities in the universe known as Mute City. The year was 2204 and the start of the new annual Grand Prix was just around the corner. Every year several elite F-Zero racers would gather for a set of races-the winner would receive a massive prize money reward usually around one billion credits. The winner of the last annual Grand Prix was a woman named _Jody Summer_, she was one of the high ranking officers of the infamous Galactic Space Federation-a galaxy wide police force.

Red Canyon had several mountains and gorges, yet the large metropolis of Mute City could be seen in the distance. Along a large valley, two red F-Zero machines raced each other neck-and-neck. One of the machines had a very tinted window, the machine was a crimson and very rounded, the machine was labeled; _Red Dove_, in white. The other machine was slightly larger and more sharply built than the _Red Dove_. The machine was bright red with two pink stripes going down the center, this machine was labeled, _Purring Kitten_, also in white.

The machines were going at maximum speed, clearly trying to outrun the other. The _Red Dove_ appeared to be the one leading the race, but only by two meters, the _Purring Kitten_ struggled to pass the _Red Dove_, only managing to match it's speed. Sand blew behind the two as they drove, the vehicles were both going about 1500 km/h.

A man in a brown leather coat, white shirt, and blue pants stood watching the two while holding a timer. He had brown shaggy hair and a shaved beard, he was focusing on the _Purring Kitten_ as it was nearing a white line that was drawn into the sand. Moments later the _Purring Kitten_ and _Red Dove_ came flying right past the white line, coming to an immediate stop afterwards. The man's coat and hair was blown back as the gusts of wind from the F-Zero machines went straight at him. The _Purring Kitten_'s cockpit had opened up, and a young woman had immediately leapt off the side of the machine. She had a grey turtle neck shirt, purple shorts, long boots, and her signature pale-green stock hat. She turned her head towards the man, she had a gleeful smile, beautiful blue eyes, fairly long hair, and two blonde bangs in front of her right eye.

The man grinned at her and began walking towards her, "One minute and twenty-three seconds, excellent driving Chi'."

The young woman gave him a thumbs up, "We've got this Grand Prix in the bag!" she said excitedly.

The man's name was Earl Bendek-the woman's being Chiya Flower. Earl and Chiya worked together in a vigilante group established to protect an area of Mute City referred to as the Lower City. Along with working together-they also found that they were great friends, Chiya finally going as far as calling him her best friend, she would very rarely refer to him as her boyfriend to people she didn't know, though the two did not actually have any relation with each other besides friendship.

"_Excellent_ my ass…" said a man in a long black coat, red scarf, visor, and fedora.

Earl lowered his eyebrows at the man in frustration, "That was a new record for her, what the Hell are you talking about?"

The man shook his head negatively at Earl, he was referred to as Lieutenant Seppuku by everyone. He was a mysterious man with no records on him at all, no one in the galaxy even knew his real name-not even his colleagues. Seppuku was the founder and self-proclaimed leader of the vigilante organization, he resides with Chiya and Earl in a secreted base in the Lower City.

"She didn't beat my record of one minute and thirteen seconds," he said coldly.

Earl chuckled at him, "Of course she didn't, she'll probably never be able to pull off _that_."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at Earl feeling offended, "Only because the Red Dove has the superior parts, my machine is only using basic."

Seppuku nodded affirmatively at her, "She can race, but if we tune her machine a bit more, she could eventually become as good as me."

"Maybe even Captain Falcon," she said daydreaming at the thought.

Earl widened his eyes and looked at Seppuku, who practically hissed at the mentioning of Captain Falcon. Chiya dipped her head realizing the mistake she made by bringing him up to Seppuku.

"If you mean flexing to your fans every race like you own them-then ideally yes," said Seppuku.

Seppuku had a rivalry with Captain Falcon, though not a violent one. Seppuku had crushed Captain Falcon's chance of winning the previous annual Grand Prix by taking his machine out during the last race. Seppuku failed to take the victory home with him however, as Jody Summer had won the race while Seppuku battled Captain Falcon's clone and arch-rival; Blood Falcon.

"We going again then, or are we done?" asked Earl.

Chiya looked back at the _Purring Kitten_ while tapping her chin, contemplating whether she was in the mood to try breaking her new record. Many months ago, Chiya was a homeless bum in the Lower City, but was brought into Seppuku's organization after he had saved her from being violated by two criminals after midnight. She had ever since been working closely with Earl and Seppuku on getting an F-Zero machine, after winning a massive gang war in the Lower City, she had gotten all of the components needed to do complete her vehicle with Earl. She was always a hardcore F-Zero fanatic, dreaming of being an F-Zero racer since High School on the planet known as Mysteria, and was presently trying to become an official F-Zero racer after months of training.

"It's up to Flower," answered Seppuku.

The two looked at Chiya awaiting an answer, she appeared to be struggling with an answer. She then grinned at them before crossing her arms together, "We've done enough, it's getting kind of cold out."

It was late November, Winter was right around the corner. Mute City was the name that replaced Tokyo, becoming the new capital of Japan, therefore snow coming down was somewhat rare for them.

"It's not that cold…" Earl muttered humorously.

Chiya stomped her foot down while flailing her hands towards him, "Easy for you to say, you both wear coats all the time!"

Earl nodded acknowledging her response, "Fair enough."

"Well let's get going then, I'm feeling a little homesick," said Seppuku.

"Great, I need to feed Mau-"

Chiya then stopped mid-sentence in shock, Seppuku looked at her curiously as Earl was shaking his head quickly at her. Chiya owned a cat she named _Mauser_, it had been months since she found him-yet she kept her pet a secret from Seppuku, fearing that he would make her get rid of him if discovered.

Seppuku shrugged at her, then began walking towards the _Red Dove_. Earl followed him closely, as the _Red Dove_ could hold two people-the _Purring Kitten_ could not. A few moments later, both Seppuku and Chiya turned on their machines and raced across Red Canyon towards the massive metropolis.

When Chiya first joined Seppuku's organization, the Lower City was corrupted by two gangs; Red Star and the Bloody Chain, they were in a massive gang war over control of the Lower City. Red Star was a Soviet themed gang led by a Russian body builder named Brock Blaskovitz, who had volunteered to be frozen by the Soviet Union in the 20th century. The Bloody Chain had been led by another body builder named Michael Chain, the only F-Zero racer to have come from the continent of Africa. Days after the Grand Prix had ended, Brock Blaskovitz ordered a full scale attack on the Lower City, prepared to take it by force. Earl and Seppuku had defended their base while Chiya went to fight Brock Blaskovitz on her own at his headquarters. Through willpower she managed to kill Brock Blaskovitz, thus leaving Red Star without a leader; the Japanese military made quick work of the remnants of his gang. The Bloody Chain had been defeated by Red Star that day as well, ultimately leaving both gangs destroyed by the end of the day.

Chiya later walked down the hallway of their base, it had several doors to each side. She had her own room, which was situated directly across from Earl's room. At one end of the hallway was Seppuku's office, the other end leading to a lobby that connected with the entrance and garage. Earl now had a Korean flag put above his door, as he was from Korea. He originally stayed quiet about his past, until it was revealed to Chiya that he was a war criminal who had massacred nearly three-hundred people by blowing up a tower with his tank battalion; to this day he heavily regretted his actions. With Chiya knowing this, he felt more proud to be Korean and was expressing himself much more, he was not allowed back on Korea however-or he would be arrested.

Chiya had at some point decided to copy Earl and obtain a flag of Mysteria; her planet, and hang it above her door. Mysteria was a planet controlled by it's military, being a very isolated planet in the eyes of the Federation. Most people would be offended to see a Mysterian flag, but Earl and Seppuku decided it was alright since the base was hidden from the public.

Chiya walked into Seppuku's office, he was sitting behind his desk on his computer. Seppuku had illegal access to many things on the internet as he was originally a member of the Federation, but now opposed them greatly as he believed their methods of fighting crime was inferior to his style.

"What do you want?" he asked strictly.

Chiya rubbed the back of her head nervously, "It's been months now, I was wondering when we can actually go try and register me for the Grand Prix…"

"You're not ready yet."

Chiya gasped at his quick response, momentarily returning a look of discontent, "Are you kidding me? I've improved so much since that one bet race I was in."

Seppuku let out a chuckle, "You're good, I'll give you that-but what happens when the F-Zero committee decides to turn on landmines during the race?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and looked down at her fingers nervously, "Uh, move around the mines?"

"-and what if you're boxed in by three racers, forced to keep going straight towards the mines?" Chiya rubbed her forehead trying to think, "Dead-that's all there is to it."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "That won't happen…"

"Why not?"

Chiya did not respond to him right away, unable to respond to his trick questions, "Then what do you propose I do?"

She quickly had a disc thrown at her chest, just catching it above her breast. She held the disc up and observed it for information.

"That's every race from last years Grand Prix-watch it, learn from it."

Chiya and Earl had been present to watch every race up close in a private F-Zero booth the previous Grand Prix, she was somewhat excited at the idea of watching these same races again after so many months.

"Yeah, okay sounds good," she said agreeing happily.

Chiya later on was laying on her belly as she watched the races on a TV she had bought shortly after the gang war. She was petting Mauser as she watched the second race of the Grand Prix-Casino Palace. The biggest highlight of this race, was that near the end Jody Summer's machine was knocked off course leaving it on fire; but Seppuku had thrown the race to rescue her rather than finishing in first place. Chiya watched in excitement for the moment where Seppuku would stop for her. Jody's vehicle propelled into the air roughly landing ahead of the other racers.

"Here it comes…" Chiya muttered.

The _Red Dove_ was slowing down as it approached the wrecked _White Cat_-suddenly the video skipped to the _Red Dove_ crossing the finish line. Chiya widened her eyes in shock, then narrowed her eyes.

"He cut that part out…"

Seppuku and Jody Summer had a friendly rivalry for each other, making the moment where he saved her even more amazing. The significance of this event was that Seppuku got out of his vehicle onto the track despite the fact that there were twenty-some racers coming right towards him. It was not very surprising to Chiya that he would cut this part of the race out of the video.

Chiya shook her head negatively with a slight smile, "Good ol' Seppuku…"

Far away in space was a dark cruiser that roamed unexplored space, it was an unusually advanced type of ship that appeared much more futuristic than the ordinary military cruiser. Inside of the ship walked a man in silver boots, purple gloves, a red racing suit, a gold scarf, a visor, and a purple helmet with a skull on the front. The man had an unusual smirk on his face as he walked towards the center of a dark room; this man was known as Blood Falcon. The evil man stood motionlessly in front of two silhouetted figures, one was very muscular with a cape and mask with devil horns.

"Blood Falcon, the next Grand Prix is around the corner-are you prepared _this_ time?" the man asked.

Blood Falcon laughed at this, "Win the Grand Prix, kill Captain Falcon, bring back Lieutenant Seppuku-no problem!"

"I recall you said something similar the past years…"

Blood Falcon shrugged at him, "But we're prepared this time!"

The man finally turned around, swishing his cape in the air as he revealed his evil grin; this was Black Shadow, the creator of Blood Falcon and most wanted criminal in the universe.

"This time you will have an ally directly assisting you on the track, under no circumstance are you two to combat each other!" he demanded.

Blood Falcon glanced at the other figure-a very muscular man in green pants, boots, and a black muscle shirt with a red hammer and sickle in the corner. Black Shadow had agreed to Blood Falcon's plan to recreate the man known as Brock Blaskovitz in their image, bringing back what memories he still had-as he had been killed by Chiya Flower by a shot to the eye.

"I wish to capture the girl myself, master Black Shadow," Brock said in a Russian accent.

"Excellent, and once we capture the girl-we can torture her until she squeals, sending us straight to Seppuku," said Black Shadow.

Blood Falcon could now see Brock's face, his right eye was now a shiny black cybernetic part connected to his brain. Blood Falcon nodded at Brock approvingly, "Then what are we waiting for, let's get going now."

Brock grinned at him, lifting up an abnormally large hammer that was as tall as him. Black Shadow chuckled at the two pleased with the determination they both had.

"Bring me Lieutenant Seppuku, and I promise you that we'll kill Captain Falcon through him…"

Blood Falcon nodded at Black Shadow, Blood Falcon lived only to kill Captain Falcon-as he believed that he was the superior version of him. Brock marched towards Blood Falcon while dragging his hammer, angrily staring at the door as he walked. "Once we're through with the girl, I will have broken every bone in her body, leaving her to suffer in a pulp of her own flesh," Blood Falcon smiled at him excitedly, finding a thrill out of his dark words, "This I swear…"

To be continued…


	2. Lap 1

==Lap 1=

It was past midnight and Chiya was sitting on her bed drawing in her art book, Mauser was on the floor sleeping. A few days ago Seppuku had given her a disc containing footage of the previous Grand Prix, she had watched it with the intention of gaining knowledge from the mistakes other racers made on the track-but had little left to gain from watching it. She was becoming fairly impatient with Seppuku, as she needed to get her skills evaluated by an F-Zero committee official if she were to enter her first Grand Prix, but he was taking his time on setting up an appointment. Chiya had her boots off, but not her hat, Seppuku was very similar to her in this way, only he always wore his boots.

Chiya yawned as she put down her art book, she had been drawing herself standing next to her F-Zero machine while holding a trophy. She continued to sit still with nothing to do, without the gang war, Seppuku was unable to collect money off of any bodies-therefore they were in a deficit and couldn't afford things like a TV for her. The day after the gang war ended Chiya agreed to stay with Seppuku for free, managing to persuade Earl to stick with her as well. Chiya had one motivational plan on how to fix this issue however-by winning the Grand Prix.

_Well, I guess that concludes my day…_ she thought as she reached towards the lamp. Right before she grasped the switch of the lamp, she could hear the sound of running down the hallway followed with loud chattering. She swatted her hand back down and tried to concentrate on the sounds, but she couldn't make out any words from behind the wall. The first thing that came to mind was that her companions were in danger, she grabbed her handgun off of a table and slowly approached her door. Mauser was now awake and appeared excited, either because his master was acting nervous or on the account of the noises outside of the room. Chiya slowly opened her door up a crack, and was surprised to see straight across from her room, was Earl and Seppuku. The two stood in Earl's bedroom, Earl was not wearing his coat for once, simply wearing a white t-shirt. The first thing she realized was that Earl appeared excited about something, and that's when she noticed something-they were holding snacks.

"This movie's gonna' kick ass, I heard that it's banned on Mysteria and Green Plant," Earl said with an excited grin.

Seppuku nodded, "Blood and gore-lots of it."

Earl chuckled, "Yeah, blood everywhere!" Earl took a disc out of a case, holding it up in front of Seppuku, "It's also scary as Hell…"

"I'll be the judge of that," Seppuku said crossing his arms.

"I have a feeling that even you'll tremble a bit at this."

Seppuku beat his fist into his palm, "Sounds great, with that being said-let's get this guys night on with!"

"-and I'll join too!" said a gleeful Chiya as she pranced up to the two.

Earl and Seppuku both looked at her with little expression, Chiya had a smile on her face, realizing that Seppuku actually wanted to do something fun for once-watch a movie with snacks.

"No."

Chiya immediately lowered her eyebrows disappointed, "Why no-ot?"

Earl didn't appear to support kicking her out like Seppuku wanted, but at the same time appeared to condemn her joining the two. Seppuku then threw a punch right in front of Chiya's face, she immediately flinched and began to tremble-just missing her face by an inch.

"Exactly…"

Chiya momentarily returned a look of anger at him, before getting a desperate look again, "That's not fair! I never get to do stuff with you guys…"

Earl put his hand on her left shoulder, "It's not that we don't want you here, it's just that…" Chiya was looking at Earl somewhat crushed that he wasn't siding with her-as she always sided with him, "Seppuku kind of has a point Chiya, you're frightened easily, and this is a really, really, dark slasher film."

"I love slasher films!" she countered.

"No you don't, a few months ago you were talking about how all slasher films are stupid for including random violence," said Seppuku.

Chiya pouted, "They are stupid, but I still want to watch with you guys…"

Seppuku began to growl at her angrily, believing that she would ruin the movie if she stayed. Chiya appeared determined to get her way one way or another.

"I promise I'll leave if I scream one time, just let me stay!" she pleaded as she grabbed Seppuku's scarf, he only growled more loudly at her as she did this, "Ple-ease…"

Earl chuckled silently at her, "O-oh just let her stay…" he said giving up.

"What!? Bu-"

"Two against one, I win-I get to stay and watch this with you guys!"

Seppuku grasped his chin while shaking his head negatively, "Fine whatever, but if you squeal even one time, you're going straight to bed."

Chiya quickly nodded her head affirmatively, overly excited to be part of the little party they were having. She wasn't someone who was bothered being surrounded by men-she actually preferred the idea of being around men more than women.

Earl put the disc inside of the TV and went to the main menu of the movie, Seppuku sat down in a soft chair that was next to a couch. Earl momentarily sat down on the couch with the remote, Chiya looked around the room for where she was to sit. Seppuku had only moments later got a grin on his face, trying not to get bothered by Chiya's presence in the party.

"Of course what better way is there to start off a party?" asked Seppuku as he dug into a bag next to the chair.

Earl began to chuckle as he watched Seppuku begin to lift something out of the bag.

"Popcorn, of course," Chiya guessed.

Seppuku then lifted up a twelve-pack of beer. Chiya instantly widened her eyes and began to shake her head negatively, "No, no, no!" she complained walking towards Seppuku.

"What?"

She then grabbed the twelve-pack out of his hands and brought it outside of the room, placing it behind the door, "What are you doing with the beer Chiya?"

She closed the door, leaving the alcohol out of sight, she then looked at the two with a slight smile, "Alcohol is bad for you," Seppuku lowered his mouth immediately in shock, Earl had a slight smile as he exhaled at her, "It makes you stupid, can result in memory loss, and admittedly I don't feel very safe being around two drunk men at night, not since that _one night_ in the Lower City…"

Seppuku stood up immediately pointing at the door, "Get out!"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily, "No!"

"That's it Chiya, so help me I'll-"

"Seppuku, just be cool…" said Earl.

Seppuku flailed his arms angrily at him, "The movie hasn't even started and she's already ruining this!"

"Don't worry, I have something better for us to drink anyways," she said walking out the door.

Seppuku slowly turned his head towards Earl, clearly feeling provoked by Chiya tonight, "Make her leave, or I'm leaving."

Earl put his finger on his chin thinking, it was either watch the movie with Seppuku-like planned, or watch it alone with Chiya-which could get awkward. He shook his hands at Seppuku trying to calm him down, "Okay, if she screams or does one more thing, then she leaves." Seppuku silently growled at Earl, "Just give her one chance Seppuku, we're her only friends and family in the world right now."

Seppuku crossed his arms together, feeling somewhat sympathetic for Chiya. She had escaped from the planet Mysteria before she was put on trial for something still unknown to Seppuku and Earl, all they know is that the Mysterian government placed a bounty on her head.

Chiya moments later returned to the room holding three glasses, Seppuku immediately grinned at the sight of this, "Oh good, what did you bring then-clear wine?"

Chiya handed him the glass, giving Earl one as well, "No, it's plain water." Seppuku then crushed the glass into pieces angrily with his abnormal strength, Chiya's eyes were quivering at the sight of the water dripping down his hand, "Uh, not thirsty then huh…"

Earl gave an angry look at Seppuku, then closed his eyes while nodding at Chiya, "Thank you for the water Chiya," he said in a soft tone.

"Start the damn movie…" muttered Seppuku angrily.

Earl lifted up the remote, but suddenly widened his eyes in shock as Chiya leapt right onto the couch with him, placing her legs over his, "So what's this movie about anyways?" she asked looking at the screen.

"A few teenagers are fleeing from their planet as they want to avoid a military draft, but soon find that the planet they hide on has a deranged cannibalistic war veteran who hunts with his combat dagger," explained Seppuku.

Chiya rubbed her forehead as she glanced over at Earl for a moment, "Sounds nice…"

"You sure you wanna' do this Chiya?" asked Earl.

"Of course I do, this will be just as fun with me here, I promise…"

About twenty minutes later, the room was dark and the TV was loudly playing throughout the room. A girl was screaming in the movie constantly as she ran through a jungle with her male friend. Chiya was trembling greatly with her eyes completely widened, she was constantly glancing away from the TV at the especially frightening scenes. The sound of a knife ripping through flesh along with screaming was leaving Earl stunned, he was slightly trembling, but appeared very focused on the movie with a look of disgust.

"His liver! He ate the liver!" the girl screamed in the movie.

Earl lowered his jaw more while raising his eyebrows at this, unlike Seppuku who was sitting with a look of thrill on his face. Chiya was still sitting in the same position as before, Earl could easily tell that Chiya was scared out of her mind because her legs were practically vibrating on his knees.

"I think he's gone…" the girl said silently.

Chiya lifted her hand away from her eye very slowly, looking back at the screen again.

"Oh God!" she yelled as the cannibal then leaped down towards the two.

Chiya nearly let out a scream at this, but maintained herself-it was no use however, both Seppuku and Earl knew that Chiya was going to give in and leave at some point. She tried to look at the screen again, but was horrified at the sight of more overly gruesome scenes. _Whoever made this movie is probably going to Hell…_ she thought nervously.

"Hey Chiya, look at the screen-it's a cute cat," Seppuku said with a devious grin.

Chiya immediately lifted her hands away from her eyes, but was immediately faced with another horrible image. She quickly hid her face completely as an initial response.

"You bloody bastard! That most certainly was not a cat!" she said unclearly.

Seppuku began to laugh at her, he was finding Chiya's obvious fear more entertaining than the movie itself.

"We should be safe here, together…" the boy said to the girl in the movie.

Chiya looked up and could see that the two had made it to a room that had a light. She felt better knowing that there was light in the movie, as nothing could possibly go bad.

"You're the only person I feel safe with…" the girl responded.

_Romance, thank God, I love romance…_ Chiya thought now looking at the screen more calmly. The killer then broke in through the roof, breaking the light and brutally attacking the male.

"This movi-"

Chiya immediately stopped her sentence, not wanting to get kicked out of the room, Seppuku was just waiting for her to crack. Chiya began to shake her head negatively with her eyes closed, clearly not enjoying herself as she had originally planned. She assumed that they would be talking the entire time while having snacks-this was a nightmare for her. Earl put his hand on her shoulder as he leaned towards her, she immediately sprung her head up startled by him.

"Chiya, I think you should go."

"No, I'm having fun…"

Earl was trying to speak silently so he wouldn't disrupt the movie for Seppuku, "Yeah well, there's a little more than an hour of this movie left, and you can barely watch the first twenty minutes."

Chiya dipped her head sadly, she had to simply accept that she wasn't someone who could handle such things-she realized that she truly was just being a burden on what should have been a fun night for the two.

"I think I should get some sleep…"

Earl grinned at her, "There you go Chiya, sleep is good." She had a disappointed look on her face, refusing to look back up at him. She moaned silently as she had been easily defeated by the movie, "We'll all do something together later on this week, how about that?"

Chiya looked up at him slightly, revealing a slight smile, "Okay…"

She then looked at the door which was still opened, she swallowed fearfully at the sight of something-darkness. Chiya lowered her eyebrows as she realized that it was pitch black everywhere in the base, she was hesitating to get off the couch. She glanced at Earl, who was now watching the movie again. _Come on Chiya, I'm nearly twenty-four, how can I seriously be afraid of the dark? _she asked herself looking at the dark hallway. Chiya was now too frightened to even move out of Earl's room-even though her room was right across from his.

Earl looked back at Chiya with a confused look, "I assume you meant sleep on your bed, no- not me right?"

Chiya still had her legs over his lap, she lowered her eyebrows at him nervously, "Of course I meant my bed, I'm just too tired to get up," she said lying.

She then gasped at something-Seppuku was gone.

Chiya looked back at Earl in fear, "Wh- where's Seppuku?"

Seppuku then launched his hands on both of her shoulders from behind, instantly scaring her right off the couch screaming loudly. She then ran straight out of Earl's room back into her own, quickly locking the door behind her. Seppuku was laughing maniacally at what he had just done, Earl sighed at him.

"Well thanks for at least _trying_ to appease her…"

Chiya was later laying in her bed with the lights off, but she couldn't sleep with the images of the movie still in her head. _There's no such thing as cannibals, think about the Grand Prix, not the movie…_ she thought nervously while trembling. She was constantly opening her eyes every time she thought about the movie, she now understood just how wrong she was not to acknowledge their warnings.

"Why couldn't they have been watching a heartwarming story about love instead?" she then lowered her eyebrows, "Who am I kidding, Seppuku doesn't know what love is…"

Chiya was very exhausted, but felt that she wouldn't be able to sleep unless she had the lights on, however she would never fall asleep with light shining in her eyes.

"I wonder if that cannibal could beat Seppuku in a fight…"

"No, he couldn't," he answered standing next to her bed. Chiya screamed and rolled right off the side of her bed upon seeing Seppuku, he had been standing in the corner of her room somehow-it was unknown how he got in without her noticing, "-and yes, I _do_ know what love is, I just think it's more for girls."

"Get out!" Chiya shouted at him angrily.

"No," he said in a girlish tone, mimicking her response to when he said, _get out,_ before.

"Seppuku, I swear to God!" Seppuku chuckled at her in response, she still appeared frightened from the movie but was now extra frightened at his sudden appearance, "What do you want?"

"I decided that it was time for you and me to go hunting together for crime."

Chiya gasped at him, "No thanks, now that the gang war's over, I'm retiring from that kind of stuff."

Seppuku crossed his arms angrily, "That isn't how it works Flower, I let you stay here for free and give you an F-Zero machine, in return you remain part of the backbone of this organization, prepared to kill when necessary."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "I'm not killing _anyone_, these are poor criminals who deserve jail time-not death."

Seppuku sighed as he looked back at her door, "Spoken like a puppet of the Federation…"

Chiya did not respond to him, simply letting him walk out of her room. He had somehow exited the room without making a single sound, strangely enough he hadn't spotted Mauser. Chiya didn't like that he could sneak into her room whenever he wanted without her noticing, but she was too tired to focus on him now. She laid her head back on the pillow, but immediately began to tremble at the thought of the movie. Seppuku's presence had calmed her down temporarily-it was clear to her that she needed to be near someone if she were to sleep.

Chiya sighed as she sat up, rubbing her forehead feeling somewhat ashamed of what she was planning on doing. She grabbed her blanket and pillow and departed out of her room within mere seconds.

To be continued…


	3. Lap 2

==Lap 2=

Hours had gone by and the sun was beginning to come up on Mute City. Seppuku's base had absolutely no windows at all and had to rely on lights and lamps around the area, Seppuku was opposed to building any windows as it could compromise their location to criminals. With the gang war between Red Star and the Bloody Chain over, they had little to worry about anymore; however, neither Chiya or Earl seemed bothered at the lack of windows. Earl had originally wanted the three to move their operations to the Upper City-the much more populated area that was actually protected by the Federation. The Lower City was the complete opposite: crime, lack of police, no jobs, homeless bums, and poorly maintained streets. One of the things all three mutually agreed on was that the Federation seemed to view the people of the Lower City as second class citizens.

Earl opened his eyes looking at the ceiling, he went to bed shortly after the movie ended but was not as shaken by the film than Chiya was, therefore he got much needed sleep. He stretched his arms tiredly as he prepared to start off his day in the garage, Earl's purpose in the organization was to keep maintenance on the _Red Dove_, but now he had the _Purring Kitten_ to work on as well, he was practically doing this for free as neither him or Chiya could get paid much now that the gang war was over. The obvious reason Earl had not left was because Chiya pleaded for him not to-she valued friendship more than money and didn't want to see the three break up

Earl spun himself off the side of his bed and leapt down-but immediately tripped on something squishy. He flailed his arms wildly while panicking as he quickly tumbled to the floor. It was then that Chiya lifted herself up from the side of his bed-her pillow and blanket down on the floor beside his bed. Earl immediately turned towards Chiya in shock, he had stepped right on her chest not having any idea that she was in the vicinity.

"Chiya, what the Hell are you doing!?"

Chiya looked at him nervously with exhausted eyes, "What's the problem?"

"Gee, I don't know-could it be that you're sleeping in my room?" Chiya gritted her teeth nervously thinking of a reason for her being here, _I can't tell him that I was afraid of the dark-he'd think I'm some kind of baby… _"Um…"

Earl appeared more disturbed than he was angry at her, starting to wonder if she was some kind of stalker.

"Mauser's litterbox smelt really bad, so I thought you would be fine if I slept here," she said lying.

"Well cleaning the litter box is kind of _your_ job," Chiya momentarily grabbed her pillow and blanket while beginning to stand up, she felt that she wasn't very welcomed in his room, "When are you going to tell Seppuku about Mauser anyways?"

Chiya whipped her head towards him "Never!"

Earl silently growled in discontent with her answer, "Don't you think he's getting a bit bored staying in that little room every day?"

Chiya shook her head negatively, "If Mauser didn't like it in my room, he'd tell me."

Earl narrowed his eyes at her, "N- no Chiya, your cat isn't gonna' talk to you."

"I know that Earl, sheesh…" she said walking out the door.

Earl jolted up straight as Chiya somewhat roughly slammed the door shut behind her, he began to rub his chin as he looked downward, "I guess she woke up on the wrong side of the bed…" he joked aloud.

Chiya had put her pillow and blanket back on her bed, then began to walk down the hallway again, she was thinking of taking a morning drive around the Upper City. With the gang war out of the way, she could safely proceed down the streets of the Lower City-originally she had to risk being fired at by Red Star or the Bloody Chain. The gang war ending was a win-lose for Chiya: On one hand-the streets were now clear of the gangs, meaning it was much safer to travel around the Lower City. On the other hand however, Seppuku could no longer loot gang members he killed or knocked out, meaning they couldn't afford much anymore. Chiya originally being a bum on the streets of Mute City gave her an advantage over the two, as she already had experience making no money at all, which is why she could handle only getting small pay from Seppuku. Earl on the other hand is a very skilled mechanic and somewhat of a surgeon-having saved both Chiya and Earl from wounds many times.

Chiya opened the door to the garage, which was a fairly large room that was holding three vehicles: the _Red Dove_, _Purring Kitten_, and Earl's regular yellow vehicle. She wasn't surprised to find that Earl was already in the garage, meaning he took off for the garage as soon as she had entered her room. He was now back in his brown leather coat and was polishing the body of the _Purring Kitten_.

"Earl."

He immediately turned around unaware of her entering, "Ah, hey."

"I don't mean to kick you off of my machine, but I wanted to go for a morning drive."

Earl lifted the polisher up and raised an eyebrow, "You never wake up this early, what's the occasion?" Chiya shrugged not knowing, Earl then nodded at her, "Well no problem, just trying to keep the Purring Kitten presentable."

She opened up the cockpit and began to climb aboard, "I'm very thankful you do this on my expense-if anyone of us deserves to get paid more it's definitely you."

Earl smirked at her and held the polisher over his shoulder, "Eh, whatever-you can pay me back by winning the annual Grand Prix."

She sat down and strapped herself in, then gave him a thumbs up, "With Seppuku helping me, there's no way we'll lose!"

Earl grinned and returned a thumbs up as well, "Just so you know, I'll be rooting for _you_-not Seppuku."

Chiya nodded at him and then closed the cockpit window. Earl stepped over to the wall and flipped on a switch, immediately opening a huge garage door. On the outside of the base there did not appear to be a door, rather just a wall-it was a disguised garage door. Chiya turned on the _Purring Kitten_ and turned towards the door, momentarily flying right out of it. Earl's hair was blown back by the quick gust the machine had left behind. Chiya looked back as the garage door closed again, there was no way anyone would ever guess that there was actually a garage door at that spot of the building. It was still fairly dark out, but had a tint of orange in the sky as she drove, the Lower City didn't get to see the sky as much since the buildings of the Upper City surrounded them.

Chiya was the only person on the road, the Lower City never had traffic at all. It was surprising to Chiya that no traffic had picked up after the gang war, as there should be nothing endangering drivers anymore. The Bloody Chain use to roam the streets in _Wild Boar_ styled machines, Red Star did the same but with hover bikes. Everywhere Chiya drove she could see craters and damage to the sidewalks and roads, it was so common for the gangs to use explosives in their engagements, that the Federation eventually had just given up on maintaining the infrastructure of the Lower City. The fact that it had been months since the gang war ended, and the infrastructure was still unrepaired-further supported the theory that the Lower City was inferior to the Upper City in the Federation's eyes.

_It's a lot more relaxing to know that I'm practically driving a war machine…_ she thought comfortably as she approached the slope leading to the Upper City. Chiya had the _Purring Kitten_ built far before the end of the gang war, but it was unpainted and lacked a combat module-the part that allows for side and spin attacks. Her machine was bearing the combat module of _Stalin's Might_-the F-Zero hover bike of Brock Blaskovitz, who Chiya had killed personally. It could be argued that Chiya was the one who ended the gang war, but it was true that the Japanese military had intervened on that fateful day and cleaned the streets of gang activity for good. Chiya had indirectly supported the military by breaking Red Star's chain of command-by taking down Blaskovitz.

A few minutes later Chiya had opened the door to a café in Mute City, it was a very F-Zero oriented building-mostly Captain Falcon inspired. Chiya sat down on the far end chair near the counter, the man who ran the café was Bart Lemming; she and Earl viewed Bart as a very mature man who always had something interesting to say relating to F-Zero. Chiya tapped her fingers together shyly, she considered Bart a friend, but still considered him more of Earl's friend-she would normally only come here with Earl. Moments later Bart approached her from behind the counter, he wore a white shirt with a red bowtie and had brown hair, he was likely in his early forties.

"Good morning Ms. Flower," he said while saluting her.

"Hi Bart."

Bart began to raise an eyebrow at her, "I-I don't usually see your face this early in the day."

Chiya sighed while dipping her head, "Yeah, I decided I wanted to watch a movie with Earl and Seppuku-that was way too scary for me, so I never really did get to sleep."

"Was the movie goo-"

"No," she immediately answered.

The two continued to talk for several minutes, Chiya had been somewhat expecting Earl to come later on-but he must have found something better to do. Bart was the only person outside of the organization that got the inside scoop of what they were doing, as he somewhat respected their desire to protect the Lower City. Many things Seppuku had Earl and Chiya do was illegal in its own form, but usually if it is for the sake of goodness.

"How old are you?" asked Bart.

"Twenty-three, turning twenty-four next month."

He nodded his head affirmatively, "You should check back here at noon, there's a gentlemen your age who I think is just like you."

Chiya chuckled at the proposal, "If he's anything like me-then he's bad news," Bart smirked at her with his eyebrows lowered, "I'm not looking for a boyfriend anyways, I just want to become an F-Zero racer."

"Understandable, but you shouldn't miss out on these years either."

Chiya puckered her lip and shook her head negatively, "Every guy that I meet is always distracted on another trait I have-even Earl when I first met him."

Bart rubbed the back of his head with his teeth gritted awkwardly, "Alright, alright, point taken."

He then bent over and pulled out a newspaper, immediately looking through some articles. _He's reading a newspaper now? I definitely made this awkward…_ she thought feeling that her accusation was a little unfair to men. He then threw folded the newspaper and put it in front of her.

"Are you thinking of entering tomorrow?"

Chiya looked down at the paper, he folded it so a specific article was displayed: _F-Zero Auction Race_. Chiya raised an eyebrow intrigued at this headline, she then looked up at him again.

"What's an auction race?"

Bart put his hands together as he leaned towards her, "It's a simple race that anyone with an F-Zero machine can enter, in this auction race-the winner can choose between a luxury F-Zero starship, or two-hundred-thousand credits."

Chiya widened her eyes at the mentioning of the cash prize, if she were to enter and win, she could split the money with her friends. On the other hand she could take the starship, which means they wouldn't have to take trips to planets via transport ships, as they would own their own ship.

"How many F-Zero machines can the ship hold?"

"Three."

Chiya raised her eyebrows in shock, this would also be a perfect reward, as she could fit both the _Red Dove_ and _Purring Kitten_; maybe even Earl's normal vehicle if needed.

"No combat allowed I imagine?"

Bart shook his head negatively, "It's exactly like a regular race you would find in the annual Grand Prix-combat _is _allowed on the track."

Chiya hummed nervously at this, Chiya was very intrigued by both the race and reward, she still needed to get out more and do more racing if she were to convince the F-Zero committee to qualify her for the Grand Prix. _I wonder what Seppuku would think if I registered for this race… _Bart appeared to be interested in hearing her response, he was a very supportive person in Chiya's quest to becoming an F-Zero racer, it was as if he was wanting her to do it.

"Would I have to race against Captain Falcon?"

Bart shook his head negatively, "I have a feeling that Captain Falcon wouldn't waste his time on this race…"

"What about Blood Falcon?"

Bart shook his head again, "Trust me, I would imagine there being only twenty-some racers on the track, the professional racers have no need for such a reward-like Jody Summer for example, if she just won a billion credits last Grand Prix, why would she want to risk her life for two-hundred-thousand?"

Chiya nodded understandingly, she felt that this would be in her best interest to join. It would be her second race she had ever competed in-her first one being a bet race in the Gambling Area of Mute City, which she had lost.

"Okay, I'll do it!" she said full of determination.

"Excellent, the race is taking place at the same track you first went to last year."

Chiya hadn't realized that a year had nearly passed by now, she got to witness her first race only because Earl had given her a free ticket-making the deal that she'd have to go with him to the second race of the annual Grand Prix; Casino Palace. This was before she knew who Earl was however, as he was merely trying to hit on her at the time-she technically did go with him to the Casino Palace race, but not as originally planned, as she had at that point become part of Seppuku's posse-thus getting access to the private booths for free.

"I better go tell Earl about this, we need to get the Purring Kitten in top shape!"

"What about Lieutenant Seppuku?"

She smirked back at him as she stood by the door, "I want this to be a surprise to him if I win the money, so I'm not going to tell him."

"You don't want him on the track with you as an ally?"

Chiya put her finger on her lip, having not accounted for this fact, "I guess I never thought about that…"

Bart chuckled at her, "Well I'll be watching you, win the race-and you'll definitely qualify for the Grand Prix."

Chiya smiled at this, completely inspired to accomplish this challenge, "Game on!" she said running out the door.

Earl was in the kitchen of the base looking around cabinets constantly. He was looking for a butter knife, but was only finding switchblades. "What the Hell Seppuku…"

"Earl!" Chiya shouted running into the kitchen, Earl turned around holding a switchblade in his hand, immediately bringing Chiya to a stop, "Gee, okay!"

Earl laughed at her response to this, "So apparently Seppuku doesn't have any butter knives-but he has swi-"

"I went and registered myself in for tomorrow's auction race!"

Earl dropped the switch blade and leaned against the table smiling, "Well good for you, what's the prize?"

"An F-Zero starship or two-hundred-thousand credits."

Earl let out a whistle at the two prizes, "Not bad, but you realize that combat is allowed in an auction race, right?"

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "I want you to come with and talk to me on the headset again as I race."

"Alright, sounds good-what role does Seppuku play in this?"

"He's not going to know about this, imagine how proud he'll be of us if we come back randomly with two-hundred-thousand."

Earl shrugged at her, "Quite frankly I couldn't care less, he'll probably just say _nice job_," Chiya quickly let go of her smile with a look of disappointment, Earl immediately felt bad crushing her fun idea, "But I'm sure he'll give you some kind of reward-maybe go swimming again."

Chiya chuckled at him, "I don't think so Earl, last time we went there Seppuku just stood in the pool doing nothing."

Earl shook his head slightly, "This is why he's not a married man…"

A few minutes later Chiya and Earl had moved the conversation back to the garage, they were now ensuring that the _Purring Kitten_ looked as good as possible for her first legitimate F-Zero race. The bet race she was in didn't allow combat before, meaning this would be the first race she competed in that was similar to the annual Grand Prix. Earl came walking up to the _Purring Kitten_ with three cans of spray.

"This will make the Purring Kitten really lustrous, this stuff's really expensive though so we need to do this correctly."

"How did you afford this then?"

Earl handed her a can, "Bought it before we even had the engine installed months ago, but that was back when we were practically rich."

Chiya sighed at the memories of being wealthy, during the gang war she would simply blow through her money on things she didn't need-now all she wanted was a good meal. Earl shook the can and held it up towards the _Purring Kitten_ slowly.

"Now watch how I do this…" He then began to gently spray a mist onto the machine, adding a slight coat of shine onto the body, "Just gently apply it, don-"

Chiya then began to spray Earl with full force, completely drenching him with the spray. Not only did she press on the can too hard, but she was holding it the wrong direction.

"What the Hell Chiya!"

"Sorry!"

Earl then began to forcibly spray Chiya back, getting her face completely wet with the spray, "Stop it Earl!"

Earl then stopped and grinned at her, "There, we're eve-"

Chiya then began to spray him again-causing Earl to spray her as well. They were now deliberately spraying each other challengingly. Chiya's hair was practically dripping and her bangs sticking to her face. Earl momentarily stepped back from her trying to get away from the mist.

"Alright, alright!"

The two stopped spraying each other and was now both drenched at this point, Chiya began to giggle at him-both of them were now very shiny looking.

She pointed at him with a smile, "You look like an action figure now."

Earl shut his eyes and smirked at her, "Alright, that was really bone-headed of us…"

It was then that Seppuku had entered the garage, immediately looking at the two shiny figures. Chiya was still slightly laughing, Earl appeared fearful of what Seppuku would make of this moment. Seppuku rubbed his forehead in confusion at what was going on.

"What the Hell are you two doing?"

Earl clenched his teeth nervously, "Uh…"

"Me and Earl were going to spray the Purring Kitten, but then we decided to spray each other instead," she said with a smile.

Earl slowly turned his head towards her, "Ri-ight, sort of like that."

Seppuku continued to stand still, momentarily backing away towards the door again, "You two are so weird…"

Chiya shrugged at him as he walked away, "We're _all _weird."

To be continued…


	4. Lap 3

==Lap 3=

The following day, Chiya had woken up much more normally-meaning she woke up around 4 PM. She had secretly agreed with Earl that they would be entering an auction race without Seppuku's knowledge, the winner would get to pick either very expensive starship fit for an F-Zero racer, or two-hundred-thousand credits. While the starship sounded perfect for Seppuku's organization, they were in severe need of money, so taking the money would be the best way to go. The main issue Chiya faced was that this would be the second race she ever entered, but this time there would be more racers and combat would be allowed on the track. She somewhat feared if the other racers would pick on her by destroying her on the track, over the last few months she had signed off with non-aggression pacts with many racers-which was a deal between two racers promising not to attack each other on the track. Naturally some of the racers she failed to sign off with was the large criminals like Blood Falcon, she was praying that he wouldn't be in this race.

Earl came walking out of his room holding a bunch of clothes, he was still very shiny looking after getting in a spray can fight with Chiya in the garage, as he never got the chance to shower the substance off before. The shine made it look like he was made of rubber, he couldn't figure out what triggered him to combat Chiya with the spray can, it was as if the two had become playful teenagers all of a sudden, Chiya finding the whole thing hilarious.

Earl was just about to enter the bathroom, when suddenly Seppuku stopped right in front of him. Earl immediately bowed to Seppuku, "Can you be quick? I wanna' take a shower."

Seppuku crossed his arms at Earl, "You can later, cause I'm taking the shower first."

Earl stomped his foot down angrily, "The _Hell_ you are! Look at me, I look like a girls toy or something!"

"You _are_ Chiya's toy."

Earl growled at him, "Not only do I look funny, but I feel so slick with this stuff on, you can't seriously leave me like this."

"So sad, I haven't showered in a few days-but you have."

Earl threw his hand around the bathroom doorknob, Seppuku immediately put his hand on Earl's, preventing him from opening it. Earl continued to growl at him.

"Who the Hell are you showering for anyways? God knows you're not going anywhere today."

"Nor are you!"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Not true, me and Chiya are going to be up in the Upper Ci-"

It was then that the doorknob began to turn, Earl looked down at his hand confused-neither him or Seppuku were turning it. Both now let go of the door somewhat shocked, the door opened revealing Chiya wrapped in a white towel. She immediately lowered her eyebrows at the two somewhat disturbed.

"Um, okay then…"

Earl glanced inside of the bathroom and could see that all of the mirrors were now fogged up-Chiya was the one who got the shower first.

Earl widened his eyes, "Chiya did you-"

"Sorry, I used up all the hot water up, but there's plenty of cold water!" she said walking back into her room.

She then shut her door, locking it behind her. Earl momentarily turned back towards the bathroom in frustration.

"Okay, when the hot water returns, I wa-"

Seppuku began to walk into the bathroom, "Whatever, I can deal with cold water." He then shut the door and locked it behind him, Earl would be the last one to get the shower.

He sighed as he began walking back to his room.

Chiya threw her usual shirt on, throwing the towel aimlessly into the air. Mauser looked up at the white towel in amazement, Chiya was now prepared for the big race. She put on her socks and quickly got into her boots, many things could go right if she were to finish in first place: A prize, respect, and a sure-fire way into the Grand Prix. Considering she had nearly won the bet race before, she was very hopeful that things may go well. Chiya had made the decision that she would use her combat module for good, only attacking racers that were evil or hostile towards her.

"I might have a fan base soon," she said aloud.

The idea of there being a Chiya Flower fan base one day seemed farfetched, but it was very possible. Being a female driver would help too, as there were only so many female racers-she would likely gain a large female fan base as a result.

Chiya began to stretch, reaching down to her feet constantly-she was pumped up for this upcoming race. The race track was going to be very simple too, not nearly as dangerous as the bet race track, the most dangerous part would be a jump, but the jump was so short that initiating the airbrakes wouldn't even be needed. If things went as planned she would have Earl speaking to her during the race, she found that he was a surprisingly good motivator, despite the fact that he wasn't an F-Zero racer.

"Alright Mauser, I'm leaving for the big race now, wish me luck."

She then proceeded out the door, the race wouldn't begin for a while, but she was too anxious for it to start and wanted to get to the track early. The first thing she wanted to do before she left was make sure that Earl was still coming, he wasn't very happy with the shiny look he had. Chiya approached his door and softly knocked on it a few times, she was hoping that he wasn't mad at her now. Moments later Earl opened the door, he didn't appear furious at first sight.

"Yep?"

She grinned at him, "Ready to go?"

Earl groaned while rubbing his hair, "I guess, this is gonna' be so embarrassing though…"

Chiya silently giggled, "Sorry for spraying you…"

Earl sighed, "It's all good."

"Don't worry you look real…" Chiya was slightly smiling with her teeth clenched, slowly lowering her eyebrows as she tried to think of a compliment, Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "You look like, uh-well that doesn't matter right now."

Earl face palmed, "I'll just meet you at the race track in a bit, wait for me in our private booth."

Chiya was somewhat sad at the mentioning of the private booth, Chiya and Earl had spent every race together watching Seppuku the past Grand Prix, but she wouldn't get to do this anymore, as she would be on the track this time. Chiya began to walk away from Earl, preparing to leave for the race.

Moments later she entered the garage alone, the _Purring Kitten_ was now very shiny and new looking. She was wondering why other racers wouldn't do this as well, they usually just entered the track with their machine only washed at the most. She moved her hand across the slick body of the machine in amazement, she could slightly see her reflection on the body. Chiya climbed aboard the _Purring Kitten_ and turned it on, she strapped herself in and began checking the dashboard lights.

"Boost power-optimal, engine-okay, energy level-full, all parts installed…"

She turned the steering wheel around a few times to ensure that everything was in perfect condition, she then set her chair back to a more comfortable position. Lastly, she checked the headset that was inside of the machine, as long as the headset was still connected to Earl's headset, they would be able to communicate during the race. The headset had a faint green light that informed her that the connection was established between her and Earl.

Chiya nodded and began to depart from the garage, her moment to shine was near at last. Earl walked in the garage mere seconds after Chiya left, wearing his Korean Civil War visor cap he wore as a tank commander. He would be much farther behind because he had to drive a regular vehicle that could go about 650 km/h at the most.

Chiya was even more amazed at her machines incredible look in pure sunshine, it was very glossy looking, she was a smart driver however and was trying to keep her eyes on the road. It was one thing if two normal vehicles got in a collision, but she was practically driving a war machine-she wouldn't be hurt in a collision, but the other driver would likely be dead on impact. She smiled at the sight of poor pedestrians, the people of the Lower City were still nervous to roam the streets again, but was slowly beginning to understand that both Michael Chain and Brock Blaskovitz were gone. Michael Chain had been contained and locked up days after the gang war, he was found hiding in the Lightning Area.

Chiya continued to check her side view mirrors, but there was never any vehicles in the Lower City, the first moment you entered the Upper City however, you would be confronted with consistent traffic. Chiya was a very charitable person and was prepared to donate much of the prize money towards Lower City reparations, but for now she mostly believed that if she or Seppuku were to win the annual Grand Prix, they would use it to bring the organization out of the financial slump they found themselves in.

"The Federation should be paying us for our services," she complained aloud.

The Galactic Space Federation-or rather just Jody Summer; condemned Seppuku's organization, labeling it as an illegal group that only provoked violence in the Lower City. Chiya somewhat believed that there is or had been a small romance between Seppuku and Jody, as she is the only person Seppuku acts childish around, they seemed to have a friendly rivalry none-the-less.

A few minutes later Chiya had parked the _Purring Kitten_ inside of a garage along with other F-Zero machines. She finally got to see where Seppuku always went before the race, she had always assumed that he parked and just waited near his machine for the race to start. In this case however, Chiya would always want to go up in the private booth with Earl until the start of the race, he was still her best friend and didn't want to neglect him. She looked around the garage and spotted both the _Golden Fox_ and _Iron Tiger_; Baba and Dr. Stewart were the two who beat her in the bet race, only because she made a mistake near the final lap while trying to land from a jump. _So I'll be getting a rematch after all… _she thought with a smirk.

She went around examining all of the machines, she had a plan that was both fair-yet unfair. She looked around the _Crazy Bear_, examining the parts it used.

"Dual-core boosters, this should be able to keep up with me well then." She put her hand on the body and pushed down on it, it was like a solid block of metal, "The reinforced plating should be the shortcoming, making it both heavy and difficult to accelerate with."

Chiya had a special skill that not every F-Zero racer could do, her obsession over F-Zero made her a very knowledgeable person on the topic, she could easily identify weak and strong points of a machine within seconds, even while she was racing. This skill helped her nearly secure the win on her first race, but she made a simple mistake that cost her the win. She didn't see any vehicles in the area that would put her in great danger, but she did see the _Fire Stingray_-she certainly wouldn't hesitate to engage Goroh on the track. Samurai Goroh had stabbed Earl the past year right in front of her after a failed attempt to raid a transport ship they were on. Along with stabbing Earl, he had later kidnapped Chiya, planning to extradite her back to the planet of Mysteria for a bounty she had on her. While Seppuku and Goroh were now on neutral terms with each other, Chiya still viewed him as a mortal enemy-something Seppuku condemned. Chiya continued to stare at the _Fire Stingray_, but then got a devious grin on her face as she lifted up a marker from her pocket.

"I'll show you Goroh…" she muttered as she began drawing on the side of the _Fire Stingray_.

She was exerting much force onto her drawing, completely vandalizing the side of his machine in black ink. She chuckled as she filled in the outlined letters she drew onto the machine. "There," she said moments later, putting the marker away. She wrote: _Fat Sammy_ on the side of the machine-shortened for _Fat Samurai_. She laughed at the machine, no one would know that she had wrote it on her machine.

"I'd love to see his face wh-"

"That's not very accurate-I'm not fat at all."

Chiya widened her eyes and looked up, Samurai Goroh was sitting in the cockpit of the _Fire Stingray_-she hadn't even noticed. Chiya immediately began to tremble, she had no idea how she would respond to this. Goroh lifted up his shirt revealing a fairly muscular chest.

"As you can see, I'm just large bodied-but not fat."

Chiya grunted at the sight of his chest, "I guess you're right then…"

Goroh chuckled at her as he easily wiped the graffiti off of his machine, she hadn't used a marker that would stay on the machine.

"I could make a similar insult towards you," he said pointing at her chest.

Chiya jolted up in shock, lifting her shirt up slightly, "I'm not fat!"

Goroh nodded at her in agreement, then looked away from her, "So you just declared war on me then, I will honorably accept your challenge."

Chiya gasped loudly at this, completely being sent back a few steps, "No no no!" He raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, "I wouldn't stand a chance against you, you're one of the original F-Zero racers!" she said while flailing her arms.

Goroh chuckled loudly at her, "Well you better get some quick allies then! Cause' I'm coming for you!"

Chiya's mouth was quivering, while she did want to combat Samurai Goroh, she was hoping she could do this in the Grand Prix when she had someone like Seppuku to back her up. She had no allies on the track and would easily be retired from the race by Samurai Goroh-a professional. Chiya continued to tremble as he had an unrealistic looking smile on his face.

"I like your glasses!" said Chiya desperately trying to calm him down.

"You're wasting time, you gotta' go find some allies before the race starts."

Chiya gasped, she then turned around fearfully and began running away from the _Fire Stingray_. She had no idea what was going on at this point, he was either being honorable by recommending her to get help-or simply was finding a thrill out of her fear. Chiya was running with her teeth clenched, she had no idea where to find someone to help her-leaving her with one person to turn to…

"Ea-ar-rl!" she yelled running into Seppuku's private booth.

Earl immediately turned towards the panicking Chiya, she hadn't even regarded the fact that he was wearing his visor cap-which was to hide his shiny looking hair. Each race track contained private booths that were situated over the stands, they were built for F-Zero racers that may want to invite guests. The booths always contained two couches, a mini fridge, and a TV that would display the race. The booth had an opening that allowed them to look out at the track, Seppuku's ironically was situated near the starting line, Michael Chain's booth was right across from Seppuku's-only Michael Chain was in prison.

"Woah, what's wrong Chiya?"

She immediately stopped in front of him, "Samurai- he wants to- Goroh wants- I'm scared Earl!"

Earl grabbed her shoulders, "Speak clearly, what does Goroh want?"

She swallowed and dipped her head downward, "I got Goroh mad and now he wants to kill me on the track!"

Earl released her and stepped back, "Alright, we're done-let's just go."

"No!"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her surprised at her desire to race, "So you wanna' try anyways?"

"Not try-do, I'm going to win this."

Earl grinned at her, "He won't kill you-bust your machine up, perhaps."

"Don't worry, I won't let em' touch me."

Earl hummed while thinking of a solution to the predicament, Chiya began to contemplate as well. Earl looked down at the track, one advantage she had over Goroh was that Earl could be an Intel officer for her, warning her if Goroh was approaching her.

"If Goroh tries to get you, try to bring yourself in front of the friendly racers, someone like Dr. Stewart would likely respect your desire to be a racer and intervene on your side."

Chiya put her fist into her hand happily, "Brilliant, surely the Federation would help me considering I helped end the gang war."

Earl chuckled while shaking his head, "Don't tell Seppuku that you're looking for Federation assistance, he'd blow his stack."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "Especially if it were Jody Summer helping me…"

She then revealed a smile, "Antonio Guster, he hates Samurai Goroh, and it seemed like he was friendly towards us."

Earl hummed negatively at her, "Wouldn't count on it, remember what happened on the final race of the Grand Prix with Guster and Seppuku?"

Chiya shook her head slightly, disappointed, "That's right, he probably hates our guts now…"

Seppuku and Guster had formed a temporary alliance on Sand Ocean previously with the goal to keep Goroh from winning the Grand Prix. After Guster sacrificed his chances of winning to stop Goroh-and letting Seppuku take first, Seppuku decided to end the alliance. Guster was heavily offended by this and proceeded to combat Seppuku on Aeropolis-which played a small factor in Seppuku losing the Grand Prix. Chiya sighed as an easy solution to the problem wasn't in plain sight.

"Wanna' take a walk?" she asked silently.

Earl and Chiya walked down the lobby of the race track, there were several people around the area, but not nearly as many compared to a Grand Prix race. There were a few F-Zero stands up, but they were getting little business. It was the annual Grand Prix that people cared about, races like these was referred to as pre-season races-which no one cared much about. Chiya was beginning to calm down as they walked, she didn't actually think that Goroh would devote his full attention on her, not with Antonio Guster and a prize at hands. Earl glanced over at her slightly, his eyebrows were covered by the black visor of his cap.

"Have you consi-"

"Terrorist," said a man as he walked past Earl.

Earl closed his eyes while shaking his head slightly, he wasn't a very well known person in Japan-but in his own country of Korea, he was regarded as both a war criminal and terrorist, he was banned from entering Korea-if he were to enter, he would have to face trial for the multiple offenses.

Chiya frowned at him sadly, she knew that no matter how bad he messed up five years ago-he should be pardoned. He was only twenty-three-like her, when he made the order to bring down the tower, he was practically a teenager at that time. Earl deeply regretted his decision for years and always spoke about how he begged for mercy from his God for his crimes.

Chiya exhaled and looked back at him with a smile, "Have I considered what now?"

Earl tilted up his visor cap slightly, trying to brush off the hurt feeling, "Have you considered what you'll wear when you become an F-Zero racer?"

She waved her hand across her body, "This."

"Oh come on Chiya, you're not going to wear that-you need something good looking."

Chiya sighed, she didn't like the idea of wearing a uniform or suit while she raced, but somehow she could tell that she would have to for the sake of a fan base, "I'm _not_ wearing a helmet or anything, I'm using this same hat no matter what."

Earl nodded, "What about pants?"

Chiya slightly blushed while looking away, feeling awkward, "I guess I don't like the idea of people focusing on my legs," she looked down at her body with a look of discontent, "I just don't picture myself wearing somet-"

"Hey, you doin' anything Friday night? I got these two tickets for the Mute City bowling alley and I was thinking…"

Chiya immediately looked over at him in shock, but of course-he was talking to another woman with somewhat red hair. The woman looked at him clearly holding back the urge to laugh, "I like men with smooth skin, but you're a bit-too smooth…"

Earl face palmed as she walked away from him, as was expected-his shiny appearance was presenting him with problems. Chiya silently chuckled at this, she always found it funny whenever Earl would strike out on a girl.

"Don't worry Earl, a lot of girls are looking for a knight in _shining_ armor, and you're just that."

Earl sarcastically laughed at her joke, "Wow, funny-I'll be in the booth…" he said marching away from her.

Chiya shrugged to herself, "I said he _was _a knight in shining armor, how was that offensive?"

Chiya later on returned to her machine, Samurai Goroh and all the other racers were in the garage. She was checking over her machine, making sure that Goroh hadn't sabotaged it while she was gone-everything appeared to be working correctly. Many of the racers were looking at her machine, but none actually approached it. Chiya was caught off guard by her headset as it began to glow blue and vibrate. She picked up the headset and put it around her head securely, making sure that her hair wasn't caught underneath it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Testing…" muttered Earl.

"You're good," she said while giving a thumbs up, despite the fact that he couldn't visually see her.

"Alright, it looks like their getting ready to introduce the racers, make sure you're ready to drive as soon as you hear your name, because they have to introduce all of you by random selection."

Chiya puckered her lips excitedly, "Do I get a cool introduction?"

"No, this isn't the Grand Prix."

She lowered her head disappointedly, though this didn't come to her as a very big surprise.

"This is a much easier track to handle, just keep your eyes on the race, of course you do have a combat module-but don't ruin your reputation before the Grand Prix even starts by destroying everyone."

"Right, just the people I don't like."

"No, j- just use it solely for self-defense this time, you seriously could ruin your chances of the F-Zero committee giving you a license if you act imperialistic on the track."

Chiya nodded, "Understood, I'll try staying away from Goroh, this race is ours."

Earl was very proud of Chiya's high spirits, however she was beginning to sound egoistic, as if she had no possibility of losing. This could only help her however, as it would give her the adrenaline to put herself in the lead.

"At this time we will call up the contestants!" the announcer shouted.

Chiya felt a shock go through her body as the time had come at last.

"Good Luck, Chiya."

Chiya spun her machine towards the opening door, preparing for her introduction.

"Piloting the Golden Fox, Dr. Stewart!"

The _Golden Fox_ then flew out of the garage onto the track, Chiya nodded as she now understood what her introduction would sound like.

"Piloting the Crazy Bear, Dr. Clash!"

The yellow machine momentarily flew right past her towards the track, it appeared that they had about ten seconds between introductions, meaning she had to be out of the garage the instant she heard her name.

"Piloting the Night Thunder, Silver Neelson!"

The _Night Thunder_ drove onto the track, but Silver had his machine in a different garage.

"Piloting the Green Panther, Antonio Guster!"

The _Green Panther _also drove out from a different garage, which was smart considering Goroh and Guster would have been in the same garage.

"Piloting the Fire Stingray, Samurai Goroh!"

The _Fire Stingray_ took off, but almost appeared like he was trying to catch up to the _Green Panther_.

"Piloting the Purring Kitten, Chima Flower!"

_Chima Flower?_ she thought angrily at the incorrect introduction, she took off from the garage easily and was moving up the track.

"Piloting the Iron Tiger, Baba!"

Chiya was concentrating on where to come to a stop, she was suppose to stop right to the side of the _Fire Stingray_-she found this ironic since he was her current rival.

"Good work Chiya, try and get away from Goroh as soon as you start though, he's starting in a perfect position where he could beat you up," said Earl.

"Don't worry, I ha-"

"Piloting the Stalin's Might II, Brock Blaskovitz!"

"What!?" both Chiya and Earl shouted in shock.

Chiya whipped her head around to her rear, a black hover bike was coming up the track quickly behind her. Chiya was wide-eyes with her mouth opened in amazement-she was looking at a dead man.

"But you killed him!" Earl shouted in disbelief.

"I- I did kill him!" she said in amazement.

It was true though, it was Brock Blaskovitz-he now had a black shiny object replacing his missing eye with wires going into his head. He was wearing something similar, yet much different, he was still wearing a muscle shirt, only it was black and the hammer and sickle was red rather than gold. Brock was the only one to ever turn a hover bike into an F-Zero machine.

"Impossible…" she muttered looking straight at him.

Brock turned his head towards her with a maniacal grin, looking straight into Chiya's eyes. He wanted revenge.

To be continued…


	5. Lap 4

==Lap 4=

Chiya was sitting in the _Purring Kitten_ completely stunned, Brock Blaskovitz was alive; not only this, but he was racing as well. The last time Chiya had seen him, she shot him straight through the head, taking out his right eye and sending him falling several feet off the roof of his HQ. She even looked down to confirm the kill-he _was_ dead after hitting the ground, something was wrong.

"Earl how can you survive a shot through the skull like that?" she asked through the headset.

Earl's eyes were quivering at the muscular man, his former gang known as Red Star was completely disbanded, there was no one that could have possibly saved him from death, "You say he fell off the roof too?"

"Yes!"

Earl rubbed his forehead in complete shock, "I- I don't know how that's possible!"

The threat of Samurai Goroh attacking her had completely vanished now, Goroh was at the bottom of her concerns-she had an actual rival now. Brock continued to smirk at her maniacally, he was the only one to ever make a hover bike compatible with other F-Zero machines, but entering the hover bike in a race was both idiotic and suicidal. Chiya's eyes were completely locked into his, both were staring straight into each other's eyes.

"He looks really different Earl…"

Earl leaned over the edge of the booth trying to look at him more closely, he couldn't see very striking features from his position, but could make out two things.

"Looks like his machine is black now, he also has a black shirt rather than his red one," Earl pointed out.

"Not only that, his eye is all metallic looking, his skin's paler, and his symbol on his shirt is red."

Brock then glared at her with widened eyes as if he had some kind of blood thirst. Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, nearly falling back into her chair, "His eye! It's red Earl, it's red!"

"Red? Like pink eye?"

Chiya shook her head negatively even though he couldn't see her, "No no no, his eye-is red, like how mine is blue, and yours is brown!"

Earl grabbed onto his chest fearfully, "That clearly isn't the same Brock Blaskovitz, stay the Hell out of his way!"

Chiya gritted her teeth fearfully, "B- but he's only looking at me, he must know who I am-meaning it is the same Brock," Brock swiped two fingers across his neck threateningly at Chiya, he was hinting that she was as good as dead, "He just threatened to-"

"That's it, I'm calling Seppuku," said Earl.

"No! This is suppose to be a surprise!"

"I'm sorry Chiya, but I'm not risking your life over a surprise!" he countered frantically.

Chiya looked away from Brock in disgust at Earl's decision, but ultimately nodded in approval, "Fine."

She continued to look forward as the other racers were called up to the starting line, there were about four racers left before the race would begin. She carefully moved her eyes towards Brock, but didn't turn her head; she could just barely tell that Brock was still staring at her menacingly. _Holy Hell this guy is mad at me…_ she thought nervously. Chiya had to pray that Samurai Goroh wouldn't actually fight her, it was abundantly clear to her that Brock was going to try doing more than just combating her-he was going to kill her. The irony of it all was that of the two gang leaders, Brock Blaskovitz was more merciful towards Chiya than Michael Chain was, offering her a position in his gang several times in the past.

"Alright, Seppuku doesn't know what you're doing here, only that you're in danger, how's that?"

Chiya somewhat grinned, "Sounds good, it'll at least be surprising to him that I'm one of the contestants," Chiya then widened her eyes as she suddenly remembered something, "But Earl, how can Seppuku possibly help? The F-Zero committee prohibits violence outside of the race!"

Earl chuckled sarcastically at her, "Knowing Seppuku, he'll probably make a last minute entrance to the race…"

Chiya's mind was so distracted on Brock's sudden emergence, she had no idea what Earl was getting at. She was still positive that she could win the race, but she likely had more of a load on her than any other racer-having two angry racers watching her closely.

"Earl, if I die-I want you to keep my ashes," a shock went through his body upon hearing the very random request, he rubbed his forehead nearly losing all morale for a moment, "But I want you to bring a portion of my remains to my mother on Mysteria-find her for me, I want some of my ashes spread out where my father was buried."

"Don't talk like that Chiya, no one ever dies in F-Zero-not since the Great Accident…"

"_If _I die," she said more clearly.

Earl exhaled, "Very well."

Chiya looked back at Brock one more time, he was still staring at her-she had to wonder if he even cared about the prize at all. It was then that the three monitors began to float above the starting line, the number _three_ displayed on each monitor. Chiya could feel her heart beat, she hadn't realized just how easy it sounded originally when it was just Samurai Goroh at her throat. She grasped the steering wheel and positioned her stock hat perfectly straight with a look of determination. This was it-her second race.

Three. Two. One. Go!

The racers all took off and the Auction race was officially underway! The _Purring Kitten_ quickly sped away from both the _Fire Stingray_ and _Stalin's Might II_. Goroh didn't seem very interested in attacking her, but Blaskovitz was, as he quickly bounced right off the side of the _Fire Stingray_ pursuing Chiya. Samurai Goroh gritted his teeth angrily at Brock, the _Stalin's Might II_ had an extreme grip, possibly the best grip in the circuit simply because he was using a hover bike. Chiya got a good start and was behind Dr. Stewart, who was in first, Antonio Guster was nearly neck-and-neck with him however. Chiya looked to her rear and could see Brock gaining on her quickly, she lowered her eyebrows nervously as she was trying to keep watch on both him and the track.

"He can't seriously retire my machine with that little bike, can he?"

Earl grunted at the question, "Te-echnically it does have a combat module, but I agree, I would _think_ that if he side attacked you, he would hurt himself."

Chiya hummed nervously, she had to worry about the race-not Brock. She didn't see the _Fire Stingray_ anywhere that could endanger her, but the _Iron Tiger_ was coming at her quickly. Baba threw fairly sexist remarks towards her in the bet race and was treating her somewhat hostilely, she was unsure if he would act as an enemy towards her or not-Chiya didn't very much like him none-the-less. Chiya could still remember the weak and strong points of the _Golden Fox_ from the bet race.

"Stewart has both a bad body and really bad grip, but a magnificent booster-what should I do?"

Earl quickly observed the situation she was in and then the turns and curves the track had.

"You're coming up on the small jump, once you land you'll be confronted with a few turns-try and hug the wall as much as you can without scratching her up."

"Aye," acknowledged Chiya.

At this point Antonio Guster had taken the lead, leaving Dr. Stewart in second, Chiya in third. Chiya was quickly coming up on the jump, but Brock was gaining on her quickly. She glared at him in amazement, another question that boggled her; was where he had obtained another F-Zero bike, as she had both destroyed the original _Stalin's Might_, and stripped it of its combat module.

Chiya could tell that Brock would be neck-and-neck with her before she could even make it to the jump; she was faced with two decisions: Either combat him, or slow down and let him pass. She bit her lip nervously as her options were thinning by the moment.

"I'm gonna' attack him."

Earl slightly gasped at her decision, "Don't do it Chiya! Just focus on the damn race!"

Chiya shook her head negatively, "Thank you for the recommendation, but I'm going to trust my gut on this one," she said as she intentionally slowed down, allowing for him to easily catch up.

Chiya quickly switched open a panel on her steering wheel revealing a trigger, she held it in and observed Brock closely as he approached her side slowly. All she had to do was hold the trigger in and move to the side, and her machine would thrust itself to the side with great force-a side attack.

"I urge you to reconsider do-"

"Okay, I reconsidered it-I'm still doing it."

Earl narrowed his eyes in frustration, "Stubborn girl…"

The _Purring Kitten_ and _Stalin's Might II_ both ran into each others sides, the forces of both machines hitting each other simply caused them to clash together. Chiya growled as she looked down at Brock-but he had an unrealistic grin as he clashed with her. Chiya widened her eyes at the unnaturally gleeful looking Brock Blaskovitz.

"Oh God, what is this?" she asked fearfully.

The machines were then separated as they made the jump, going into the air. Brock had easily glided way in front of Chiya, putting himself in third. Chiya narrowed her eyes at him angrily.

"Gee okay, take third for now!"

It was then that she realized the truth of it all, he had no intentions of winning the race-he was slowing down trying to get neck-and-neck with Chiya again. Chiya and Earl both gasped at the sight of this, in all actuality, Brock couldn't care less about the Auction race.

"Chiya, he _does_ want you dead, you've gotta' get outta' here!" Earl said panicking.

Chiya gritted her teeth angrily, "Out of the question!"

"Chiya come on, this is a whole different ball game now, the only racer in F-Zero who tries to kill his rival like this-is Blood Falcon."

Chiya rubbed her forehead nervously, what he said was true, Blood Falcon would try killing Captain Falcon every single race they competed in together, the only difference is that Captain Falcon was an ace-and Blood Falcon was a clone of that ace, therefore killing each other wasn't easy. Chiya was a novice, Brock was one as well, but likely had more skill than her.

"I'm not leaving," said Chiya strictly.

Earl did not respond immediately, he now realized that Chiya wouldn't leave until something bad happened, his doubt in her would only give her fatigue and break her morale. He smirked somewhat proud of her for being so determined to win.

"Alright here's what you're gonna' do then, once try and stay behind him until you get near the twist in the track leading to the second lap, try pinning him to the wall and side attacking his rear, but don't get directly neck-and-neck with him."

Chiya smiled at him, "Good plan Earl, keep me informed with any rec-"

The _Iron Tiger_ and _Fire Stingray_ had then both rushed past her, the _Fire Stingray _had easily passed the _Stalin's Might II_, the _Iron Tiger_ was situated in between Chiya and Brock.

"Sho-ot…" she muttered in furstration.

"Alright change of plans, you'll follow Baba until the second lap, then boost your way back to the restoration area, from there you should be able to keep a good distance from Brock. Mind you, he does have a poor looking booster, so you can probably distance yourself from him pretty well."

Chiya rubbed her chin wondering if this was as easy as it sounds-but his second plan was immediately crushed at the sight of something. Brock did a spin attack while slowing down, completely battering the _Iron Tiger_ up-it then propelled into the air.

"Holy-"

She dashed to the left quickly, nearly getting struck by the propelled _Iron Tiger, _Baba was easily retired from the race.

"H- how does that bike have so much power!?" Chiya yelled into the headset.

Earl and the rest of the crowd were amazed at this, it was becoming clear to everyone that Brock had something up his sleeve-his vehicle was stronger than it appeared.

"Alright, third plan; once you get boost power-stay the Hell ahead of him!"

After seeing what Brock had done to Baba, she was prepared to listen more carefully to Earl, the _Stalin's Might II_ clearly was a true weapon, but its booster couldn't be very good. The five racers had then drove through the checkpoint, authorizing them to use boost power. Chiya quickly took up the opportunity and boosted two times, desperate to place herself far ahead of Brock. She had nearly been passed by the _Crazy Bear_ and _Big Fang_, but she was completely content with using so much energy to get away from Brock. She was now nearly touching the rear of the _Fire Stingray_, she exhaled at the sight of Samurai Goroh-but then jolted up straight remembering that he was no more of a friend than Brock.

"Oh God!" she panicked as she dashed to the right quickly.

The _Fire Stingray_ then boosted away from her quickly, she was in forth but was having a very difficult time concentrating on the race with an enraged brute trying to kill her.

"Alright Chiya, just forget about Brock now and focus on Goroh-he's an enemy too, so pass him!"

"Aye," she said boosting one more time towards him.

Chiya hadn't predicted how far up she would go, realizing that her booster would begin to slow down right to the side of his machine. Chiya was afraid to go neck-and-neck with Goroh, she had her foot on the brakes but was hesitating to push down.

"Just ram em'!" shouted Earl.

"I thought you sai-"

"Don't side attack him, just ram into him-try bouncing off of his machine."

Without further questions, Chiya rammed straight into the _Fire Stingray_, only roughly enough to leave a few marks on his vehicle. Chiya was trying to push Goroh to the side, but they were basically just clashing with each other, unable to push each other to the side.

"H- his body is too well built!"

"Chiya boost now!"

Despite the fact that she was in the orange zone of her energy meter-she boosted. Her meter began to blink red indicating that she was nearly empty on energy, luckily Earl had told her to boost at the perfect time, as she flew straight onto a restoration pad. Her energy meter was now filling up as she drove, but she boosted right through the restoration pad, quickly gaining on Guster and Stewart. She smirked and looked back at the _Fire Stingray_, but was surprised to see the _Stalin's Might II_ boosting towards her from far behind.

"Don't worry, he has a single core booster-he'll have a hard time catching you," Earl reassured.

Something was wrong though, the _Stalin's Might II_ was still boosting, his booster wasn't stopping. Chiya gasped at the sight of this, not only did he have power, but he also seemed to have some kind of special booster. Moments later it still wasn't done boosting, he was nearly caught up to her again before it began to finally die down.

"What the heck is this!?" Chiya panicked.

"We're dealing with something unnatural, no vehicle can boost that long without stopping-especially a single core booster, something is really, really, wrong…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows challengingly, she was racing some kind of F-Zero demon. _Surely he's almost out of energy after making such an unreal boost…_ she thought in amazement. She looked back at the _Green Panther_, which was now in second, the _Golden Fox _had regained the lead. Chiya boosted further up the track away from Brock, Guster was retaliating by boosting as well however, bringing both him and Chiya close to Dr. Stewart. Chiya looked back at Brock, but was amazed at something-he was boosting again. Just like before, his booster wasn't dying down for several seconds, the average booster would die down within 2-4 seconds, his was easily going on for 7-8 seconds.

"How can he hold so much energy!?" She looked back up at the _Green Panther _and boosted one more time, placing her in second, "Is his machine even legal for F-Zero racing?"

"Afraid so, the rules clearly state that any machine with all F-Zero parts installed can qualify for racing," explained Earl.

"Oh, okay, so we can install parts in our washing machine and we're good to go then?" she asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, try it," he said jokingly.

Chiya was now doing an excellent job of keeping up with the lead, but just like the bet race; Dr. Stewart would be the one she needed to pass. The _Night Thunder_ was coming up at the group of racers fairly fast, just passing the _Stalin's Might II_. Chiya looked back at Antonio Guster fearfully, she was wondering if he knew who was piloting the _Purring Kitten_, as Guster could become hostile towards Chiya if he recognized her. She looked ahead of her and saw the turn that would lead to the final lap, she knew how she could use this to her advantage. She continued driving down the track alongside the _Green Panther_, but as soon as she saw the moment fitting-she boosted ahead of him. Chiya accidentally rammed the side of the _Green Panther_ while trying to boost around the corner. The _Golden Fox_'s terrible grip gave her an advantage around the turn, easily putting herself neck-and-neck with Dr. Stewart.

"Nice work!" Earl complimented.

"Thanks, but I'm the exact same scenario as before, he has the superior booster."

Chiya looked back at the group, Brock was right behind her in third. She shook her head in amazement, it was obvious that he could win the race if he truly wanted to, but he was clearly only in it to beat her up. She gritted her teeth nervously as the _Stalin's Might II_ was quickly coming up on her side, she would have to likely throw her second place position in order to stay alive. A miracle happened for Chiya at the last minute however, Dr. Stewart hit the brakes for a moment, sending Brock right into the back of the _Golden Fox_.

"Woah!" she spat looking to her rear.

She held first place for a moment, but Dr. Stewart had immediately boosted after running into Brock, putting himself in the lead again. Chiya boosted away as well, now entering their final lap. Both Dr. Clash and Antonio Guster then passed Brock, but he still had a determined look on his face despite the setback.

"Blaskovitz was knocked back a few racers, Stewart bought you more time to beat him."

"What a gentlemen," said Chiya with a smirk.

Chiya and Dr. Stewart seemed to be the two who would likely win, Dr. Stewart had beat her in the bet race, so this was her time for vengeance. Despite being beaten by him before, Chiya regarded Dr. Stewart somewhat as an ally, he was the only person in the Federation that Lieutenant Seppuku somewhat respected. Chiya was forever grateful because Dr. Stewart was the one who healed Earl when he got stabbed by Goroh on the way to Sand Ocean, Earl would have died from bleeding and damage to his internal organs if he weren't there.

Dr. Stewart and Chiya continued to race very close to each other, both were low on energy however. The _Green Panther_ began driving towards them quickly-but not nearly as fast as the _Stalin's Might II_. Chiya growled angrily at the sight of Brock, his machine was clearly equipped with very expensive F-Zero parts-but where did he obtain them from, was the question Chiya had. Brock bounced off the side of the _Green Panther_ and began boosting towards Chiya again. She slammed her hand down against the steering wheel in amazement.

"Cheating! There's no way he can still have energy in his vehicle!"

Earl rubbed his chin as he watched Brock boost towards her for nearly seven seconds without dying down, "Perhaps it's because he's using a hover bike."

"Well that shouldn't be allowed in races, it's a bike-not a machine!"

The _Stalin's Might II_ quickly came at Chiya and rammed into her, sending her nearly against the wall of the track.

"Shoot!"

"Hang on Chiya!"

Out of fear and pressure, she boosted again-only a sliver of her energy meter was visible at this point, her machine was nearly dead. She was now in first by a few meters, but the simplest collision could retire her from the race-not to mention her machine would need expensive repairs, that they couldn't afford in the first place. Luckily for Chiya, Dr. Stewart seemed to have her back and was blocking Brock from reaching her; this allowed for her to make the jump and land in the restoration pad-safe. She now filled up on energy again and was still leading the race, but Dr. Stewart let Brock go as soon as Chiya regained her energy. Chiya immediately started boosting away from both of them, but Dr. Stewart was quickly gaining on her as he had the better booster. Brock was boosting towards the two quickly, Antonio Guster was slightly behind Brock.

"You're almost done Chiya, you just gotta' shake Stewart!"

"What should I d-"

It was then that Chiya, Earl, Dr. Stewart, Guster, and Brock all gasped in shock. The _Red Dove_ had suddenly boosted up the track, moving to the side of Dr. Stewart and Chiya.

"Seppuku!" Chiya yelled in shock.

The two had no way of communicating with each other, but she knew that Seppuku would figure out the problem on his own.

"I had a feeling he'd do this…" said Earl with a smirk.

Seppuku hadn't registered for the Auction race, therefore he was not a contestant-his presence on the track was technically illegal in the eyes of the F-Zero committee. The committee didn't seem prepared to pull the plug on Seppuku though, they realized that this would make an interesting race. Chiya was still just barely in first, Brock and Dr. Stewart were neck-and-neck about four meters behind Chiya.

Seppuku tilted his head to the side and looked at Blaskovitz, he revealed a smirk at the presumably dead man, "Back from the dead are we?" Seppuku asked aloud.

Seppuku then slowed down and got in between the _Golden Fox _and _Stalin's Might II_. Brock was grinding his teeth angrily at the sight of Seppuku-who was the true enemy of Black Shadow, except for Captain Falcon who was Black Shadow's truest enemy. The _Golden Fox_ moved away from the _Red Dove_ quickly, and within seconds-the _Red Dove_ did a massive side attack on the _Stalin's Might II_.

Chiya could see the sparks go flying from Brock's machine, she knew he was out of the picture-but now she had to win the race. Dr. Stewart had at that moment passed her by boosting, but Chiya had a plan and decided not to boost yet.

The _Red Dove_ moments later began scraping the _Stalin's Might II_ against the wall, Seppuku wouldn't let go of him-leaving Brock way in the back of the race with no chance of catching Chiya. After busting his machine up enough, Seppuku let him go and began driving in the opposite direction, intending to leave the track now that the threat was removed.

"You don't have to worry about Brock, his machine is literally cooked," said Earl.

"Wait-hold on…" she muttered as she focused on a sharp turn coming up.

The _Golden Fox _prepared to turn, but had to slow down on the account of his machine's terrible grip. Chiya took up the moment and perfected the turn while boosting, Dr. Stewart saw through Chiya's plan and boosted the first moment he saw the opportunity. Chiya had regained the lead, but only by a little, the finish line was coming up and the two had a simple stretch to go-no turns, no jumps, just a straight drive.

"Oh no, but he has better boosters than me!" she said panicking.

"But you only boosted one time, he did multiple times-therefore _you_ have more energy to use!"

Chiya widened her eyes, realizing that he was absolutely correct. Without hesitation she began to click the boost button constantly, Dr. Stewart boosted as well-putting him in the lead again. Chiya was trying not to lose hope, and boosted again, but Stewart countered by boosting once more as well. Chiya gritted her teeth challengingly and boosted once more-but this time he did not.

Dr. Stewart looked down at his energy meter, it was practically empty. He looked back at the _Purring Kitten_, Chiya still had energy. "Ah, well it was a good race…" Dr. Stewart muttered aloud with a grin.

Luck finally paid off, as Chiya boosted one more time, now in the red zone of her energy meter. She had finally passed Dr Stewart and was now about to finally complete a life goal. Finished. Chiya had won the race taking first, it was her second race she ever competed in and she won.

"Hell yeah!" Earl shouted throwing his fist into the air.

Chiya came to a stop as soon as she passed the finish line, she was stunned at the fact that she had just won, the people in the crowds were cheering for her. Chiya's opened mouth was quivering as she watched the other racers momentarily come through the line as well.

"I won?"

Seppuku ran up to the private booth and grabbed Earl's shoulder, "Come on."

Earl was caught off guard by Seppuku's sudden appearance, but nodded his head happily as he followed him away from the booth.

Chiya was shaking her head in disbelief that she had won, not only did she win the Auction race, but this would look good once the day came where she would get her skills evaluated by the F-Zero committee, she was almost certain that she would get into the Grand Prix at this point. Brock Blaskovitz had not come through the finish line, he had disappeared off the track completely. Moments later, Seppuku and Earl came rushing across the track towards the _Purring Kitten_, Earl appeared proud and excited of Chiya, Seppuku had the same expressionless look he usually had. Chiya opened the cockpit of the _Purring Kitten_, she still had a stunned look and wasn't even smiling-but inside she was bursting with joy.

"You did it Chiya! You won the prize!" Earl said excitedly.

"But what prize am I taking? The starship or the money?"

Earl crossed his arms together with a grin, "I think you know what we need…"

Moments later an F-Zero official approached the _Purring Kitten_ with a microphone in his hand, Chiya looked down at him still stunned at everything that was happening.

"Chiya Flower! You are now a first time winner, what are your initial thoughts?"

Earl and Seppuku stared at Chiya as she stood still, she began to tremble as she was a somewhat shy person and didn't want to be broadcasted.

"Um, I uh…" she swallowed trying to calm down, "Can I have my prize now?" she asked stuttering.

The interviewer laughed, "Fair enough, will you take the starship, or the two-hundred-thousand?"

Chiya bit her lip nervously, Earl was already fantasizing about what he would do with his share of the prize money, even Seppuku would be more than happy to have some spending cash for once, but he ultimately wanted money so they could live better lives again.

"I'll take the ship!" she said quickly with a gleeful smile.

"What!?"

"Chiya-a…" Earl said holding his hands out upset.

"Good choice! Here are the keys to the ship and where you can find it," the F-Zero official said handing her the keys and a slip of paper.

The F-Zero official began to walk away immediately after, Chiya turned towards the two with a smile, jingling the keys in front of them-before she realized that neither of the two supported her decision.

"Wh- what's wrong?"

Seppuku flailed his arms in the air angrily, "You chose a ship, over money, that we desperately need…"

Chiya acknowledged his point, but was siding with her decision to pick the ship over the money, "But Seppuku, think about all the things we can do with a ship, like getting to planets for free."

"What about fuel? That's just as expensive!"

Chiya shrugged at him, "Like it or not, we have a ship now."

Earl appeared just as frustrated with her decision as well, but it was her prize. Chiya pointed down at Seppuku, "Trust me on this one, you'll agree with my decision eventually."

Seppuku slowly sighed as he nodded, "This better be one Hell of a starship…"

To be continued…


	6. Lap 5

==Lap 5=

Seppuku had decided after the race that they would travel to the spaceport of Mute City to see their new ship the following day. Both Earl and Seppuku were very displeased with Chiya's decision to take the starship over the money, but she insisted throughout the day that it would only help them in the long run. The upsides of having a starship was mainly that it could hold at least three vehicles-a perfect coincidence considering they had exactly three vehicles. With a personal starship they wouldn't need to get to planets via transport ship anymore, ever since Goroh attacked the ship the three were on while heading to Sand Ocean, neither Earl or Chiya have been very fond of the Galactic Transportation System. Typically, Earl was the one who seemed more forgiving towards her decision to pick the ship, Seppuku on the other hand was furious with her-which was nothing new for her.

Earl was checking all of the coats he had in his room for loose change, he wasn't completely broke, but was looking for anything that could buy him a drink at a bar. The money Earl did still earn was commonly spent badly-usually in the Gambling Area of Mute City. Earl was someone who enjoyed the bar scene, both to drink, gamble, and hit on women-which is how he ended up meeting Chiya in the first place.

Chiya could suddenly be heard screaming loudly from inside of the bathroom, Earl jolted up in shock at her scream-she was panicking.

"What the Hell is tha-at!?" she screamed loudly, her voice echoed down the hallway of the building.

Earl quickly grabbed his handgun and kicked open his door, running out into the hallway. He found that Seppuku was on the same page, having kicked open his office door with his long rifle equipped.

"Oh God, help!"

Earl and Seppuku ran to the bathroom door, both trying to open it at the same time. Earl shoved Seppuku aside and pushed open the door quickly, aiming his handgun out as soon as he leapt inside.

"Chiya, what's wrong!?"

Chiya was in the corner of the bathroom trembling in fear, she had her handgun equipped and was aiming it down the center of the room.

"What the bloody Hell is that!?" she screamed pointing her finger at the sink.

Earl and Seppuku both looked at the sink expecting some kind of danger, but they could see nothing at the sink. Earl approached it with his gun still drawn, Chiya appeared completely broken down at something. Seppuku looked around the sink as well, not seeing anything in plain sight.

"What's the problem?" asked Earl.

Chiya stomped her foot down with a furious expression, "Look at the faucet!"

Earl and Seppuku both turned their attention towards the faucet, then finally found the problem-a spider. Earl cringed at the fairly large insect, but wasn't nearly as freaked out as Chiya.

"It's a spider," answered Earl.

"Yeah, I know-kill it!"

Earl lowered his handgun and began to chuckle at the arachnid, "Ah, cool it layed eggs all over the faucet, look!" he said tugging on Seppuku's sleeve.

Seppuku somewhat smiled at the sight of the eggs, "Reminds me of that one movie we watched where the giant spiders we-"

"What the Hell is wrong with you two!? There's a freaking spider on the sink!" she yelled while flailing her arms.

Seppuku swiped the spider and the eggs onto his fingers, turning towards Chiya with it. She immediately pushed herself against the wall more trying to distance herself more from him, she began to hyperventilate as he brought the spider closer to her.

"Come on Flower, it's just a cute spider-I thought you were all about cute things." Chiya then aimed her handgun straight at Seppuku's hand in retaliation, he immediately backed away from Chiya, "Woah, okay, alright!" he said throwing the spider into the air.

Chiya immediately ducked down cowering in fear, she assumed that the spider and its eggs would land right on her. Instead it landed in the middle of the floor, and it began to squirm as it landed, running across the floor panicking at its handling.

Chiya widened her eyes and began to panic some more, she then stood up only on her toes, getting right against the wall. Earl finally stepped up and crushed the insect with his foot, rubbing his foot back and forth afterwards.

"Satisfied?"

"Oh my God, that was gross!" she said trying to look away from his shoe.

"How could you watch Brock Blaskovitz's eye explode without being disgusted, but find a small insect's demise disgusting?" asked Seppuku.

Chiya stepped in front of the two and began to wash her hands, "I don't know, it's different…"

Earl slowly turned his head towards the two, "Speaking of Blaskovitz…"

Chiya began scrubbing her hands as she looked over at Seppuku, "Yeah, what's going on with that, I killed him months ago-how's he alive now?"

Seppuku hummed while thinking, it was truly something that baffled all three of them-but especially Chiya, as she _knew_ that she had killed him personally.

"Let's go see our new starship-but first meet me in my office in five minutes, we need to have a discussion about Blaskovitz's sudden rise from the dead," said Seppuku as he began walking out the door.

Chiya wiped her hands on her shorts and walked out the door as well, she had a feeling that Brock's return and lust for revenge on her, was a sign that a new dangerous adventure was about to begin.

A few minutes later both Chiya and Earl were inside Seppuku's office, he was sitting behind his desk with his hands folded together. The return of Brock Blaskovitz was stirring fear into both Chiya and Earl-except Seppuku, who didn't fear the muscular man at all.

"So Blaskovitz is back and wants Chiya dead-thoughts?" he asked looking at the two.

"I for one, don't think this is fair, he was the one who started the gang war, I j-"

"Shut up Chiya, how about you Bendek?"

Earl hummed at the question, "He obviously holds a grudge on her because of what she did to him, but clearly his gang didn't save him-it must have been some kind of third party."

"The Bloody Chain?" Chiya proposed.

"Don't be stupid child, the Bloody Chain was practically dead before you supposedly killed him," said Seppuku hostilely.

Chiya growled at him, "Not _supposedly_, I _did_ kill him!"

"Clearly you didn't, all three of us saw him perfectly healthy yesterday."

Earl shook his head negatively at Seppuku, "No Seppuku, she did kill him, he took a shot through the eye and fell off a tall building-you can't possibly survive that."

"His one eye was red…" she added.

Seppuku rubbed his cheeks as he tried putting the pieces of the puzzle together, "That can be surgically done, Chiya you like to draw-go draw Blaskovitz on the whiteboard."

Chiya appeared surprised at his request, then looked back at a whiteboard he had recently put up in his room. She always carried a general purpose black marker wherever she went, which is what she used to vandalize the _Fire Stingray_.

"Uh, okay!" she said with a smile.

She immediately walked up to the whiteboard and began drawing on it, Seppuku and Earl watched her-she was clearly excited to show her art to them. Seppuku looked back at Earl, "What about his machine?"

Earl immediately widened his eyes and flailed his hands around his face, "That is one special machine he has there, he was boosting for nearly seven seconds before it finally died down, and somehow it barely used up any energy!"

"Interesting, anything else?"

Earl shook his head affirmatively, "He sent a racer into the air with a spin attack-you try and tell me how a bike does _that_."

Earl shook his head in disbelief at this, "I had an easy time taking him out though, he didn't seem interested in me at all…"

"Then obviously he just wants Chiya."

Seppuku clenched his fist together and growled, "If he wants Chiya so badly, he'll have to get through me first!" he said pounding his fist into his palm.

Earl grinned at him, "Well then we know she's safe, because I don't know anyone who can beat you-besides Blood Falcon."

Seppuku launched himself up angrily, "What are you implying!?"

Earl took a step back, "Uh, well, I think we can all agree that we had our rears kicked by him on Aeropolis last year…"

"We were evenly matched, but nothing can stop a Falcon Punch-he took the easy way out."

Earl scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, but-"

"Flower! What's taking you so lo-"

Both Seppuku and Earl were surprised to see that the whiteboard was already filled with drawings-only most of them seemed off topic.

"Sorry…" she muttered as she stepped away from the board.

Chiya had drawn a very chibi looking drawing of Brock Blaskovitz in the corner of the board, but surrounding it was pictures of cats, flowers, and a few pictures of her, Earl, and Seppuku.

"Chiya, what in the world goes on in your head?" asked Seppuku.

"Those are, uh-interesting…" said Earl silently as he looked at the drawings of the three.

"Thanks, that's me, Seppuku, and you," she said pointing at the chibi drawings.

The drawings were very off in specific ways, Chiya's had a normal appearance, Earl's had sunglasses and even more shaggy hair than he really has, Seppuku's was missing his scarf, but more notably-he had an abnormally large smile.

Seppuku slowly pointed at her happy drawing of him, "Wha- what am I doing in that drawing?"

Chiya smiled at him, "You're happy because you just learned that Chiya got a new cat, and you're very happy for her, because deep inside you love cats too-and Earl's just hanging in his sunglasses cause he's cool like that."

"But I don't wear su-"

"I hate cats," Seppuku said strictly.

Chiya immediately got a sad look with her mouth opened, _Well telling him about Mauser anytime soon is out of the question…_ she thought as she sighed.

"Do I have a moustache on _that _drawing?" asked Earl.

Chiya looked back up at another drawing of Earl, it had a barber styled moustache, "Oh, that's Earl if he had a moustache."

Earl grunted somewhat disturbed by the drawing, "I- is that how you want me t-"

"You're wasting our time with your little drawings Chiya, let's get back on track," Seppuku said looking at her drawing of Brock.

Chiya nodded and turned towards the drawing, it was also drawn in chibi style-not what Seppuku had hoped for. He had assumed that Chiya would draw more realistically, since drawing was one of her hobbies. She pointed at the black metallic eye on the Blaskovitz drawing.

"The first strange thing I noticed, was his right eye-given I did kinda' blow it up, but it almost looked like some kind of goggle."

Earl was caught off guard by the black eye, she hadn't mentioned that part at all, and he couldn't see Brock's face from where he was standing during the race.

"Perhaps it's some kind of artificial eye," Seppuku proposed.

"But Seppuku, no one has _that_ kind of technology," said Earl.

"Exactly, but then again it could just be cover for his missing eye."

Chiya tapped her finger on the board again, "Secondly, he had very pale skin."

"Probably from losing so much blood after you shot him," answered Seppuku.

Earl hummed negatively, "Actually no, as soon as your body starts getting a steady flow of blood again you should return to normal."

Seppuku clapped his hands together, "Well done Doctor Bendek."

"I'm no doctor."

"Drug overdose-that can affect skin color," said Chiya.

"Okay well, clearly this isn't helping us very much get our answer, I think his machine is what we should be thinking about more," said Seppuku.

Earl kicked his leg at the floor, "We already went over his machine, we know it's fast, powerful, and has an abnormal booster."

"He obviously is working with someone then, no way he could have obtained those parts on his own-he clearly has changed his color scheme to black, which could provide us with some kind of clue…" Seppuku and Earl both contemplated on whether he was serving someone, or leading again, "Chiya what do you thi-"

Chiya was drawing another picture of Earl and Chiya laughing together-only this time Earl had a lumberjack beard.

"Dammit Chiya, stay focused!" yelled Seppuku.

"Sorry…"

Earl shook his head negatively at the drawing of him, she seemed to enjoy putting random things on his face-but drawings of herself were all the same looking. Earl then looked over at Seppuku again as he began to chuckle at the drawings, "Alright, let's go see Chiya's new ship."

Chiya clapped her hands gleefully at this proposal, "That I won!"

"_My_ ship! The Purring Kitten is technically _my_ vehicle!" hissed Seppuku.

Earl chuckled sarcastically at him, "Lieutenant Seppuku-proud owner of the very manly; Purring Kitten…"

Later on Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku arrived at the spaceport of Mute City, which was in the Upper City-this area had several transport ships that would travel between planets, and also could store ships for people-at a price of course. Chiya had taken the _Purring Kitten, _while Seppuku and Earl took the _Red Dove_, the _Purring Kitten _wasn't built to hold two passengers-Chiya greatly disliked this about her machine. The three had parked their vehicles and walked together towards a large hangar, the door was currently shut.

"This ship better be incredible…" muttered Seppuku.

"Will you stop complaining already? It can hold three vehicles, that's good enough," argued Chiya.

"Well we only have three days to move this ship somewhere else, otherwise we'll have to file for bankruptcy-and then we'll die…"

Chiya snorted at him with a smile, "Yeah, okay Seppuku…"

"I wonder if it's big," Earl pondered aloud.

"Of course it's big, it can hold three vehicles, that or it's really cramped."

"-and as a result we'll suffocate from lack of oxygen," said Seppuku.

Chiya began to laugh at him, "Oh my goodness Seppuku, calm do-own…"

The three moments later approached the door, there was a small monitor on it that wanted a key inserted into it. Chiya lifted up the key she was given in confusion, surely this key couldn't open the door whenever she wanted, in that case they practically owned the hangar. She inserted the key into the monitor, it immediately displayed an _unlocked_ icon, but then showed an image of a broken key. She took the key out momentarily, surprised to see that a red light was now flashing on the key-it then faded grey.

"So wait, is this even the key to the ship then?"

"We'll see," said Seppuku.

The massive door began to slide open, including a hatch above the hangar so the ship could alternatively take off upward. The hangar appeared pitch dark, but was very slowly beginning to light up as the doors opened wider. The three stood perfectly still as the image of a large white and blue starship started to become visible, Chiya puckered her lips in excitement at this-able to see that it was indeed larger than she had initially thought.

"Wo-ow!" Chiya said in amazement at the now revealed white and blue F-Zero starship.

Earl raised his eyebrows and whistled, impressed with the ship as well. The ship had a large body in the back, with a smaller bridge way in the front, this is where the pilots would go. The ship was mostly white, with specific parts of the ship painted the same coat of blue as the _Blue Falcon_.

Chiya held her finger out at it while trembling, "That's a lot larger than I thought it'd be!"

Earl nodded in agreement, Seppuku appeared just as impressed, but was still trying to make her feel bad about her decision, "Yep, it's a re-eal piece of sh-"

"Congratulations Chiya," said Earl.

"Thanks! This must be as cool as Captain Falcon's ship!"

Earl chuckled silently at her, "I don't know about _that_, the Falcon Flyer is a pretty spectacular ship-rumor has it that it can even transform into a military attack fighter."

"I disagree, anything Captain Falcon owns is pure trash," said Seppuku.

"Your opinion doesn't count Seppuku, you have too much of a biased opinion on Captain Falcon."

Chiya walked forward into the hangar, the loading ramp to the ship was already deployed for her. She hesitantly walked up the ramp with Earl, Seppuku closely behind them-a light automatically came on upon entering the ship, it was just as white inside of the ship than outside. Chiya and Earl stepped inside of the ship's body, both immediately gasped at their surroundings.

Earl nearly backed right into Chiya in disbelief, "O-oh my…"

The ship was incredibly clean, there was a kitchen right inside of the body with white marble counters, a living room right in front of the kitchen, a bathroom down a very small hallway, a bed room across from the bathroom, and the bridge was just across the small hallway. Behind the kitchen was one more bedroom and a large room with loading ramps already opened large enough to fit multiple vehicles inside-however they may have been mislead, as it only appeared that it could fit two vehicles.

"This is incredible!" Chiya shouted in amazement.

Earl rubbed his head in confusion, "It's literally better than the base we have!"

Seppuku grunted at Earl's remark, but what he said was practically true-the ship was practically well enough to live in. The first thing Chiya did was look inside one of the bedrooms, as she assumed they were going to use this whenever they were off-planet.

"Wha- my God this is incredible!" Chiya spat out excitedly.

The bedroom had two beds, a very basic TV, and a closet-the beds were much better than anything they had back at base. Earl and Seppuku stepped inside of the room as well, both were quickly impressed as well, but Seppuku was still trying to appear displeased with the results; though he was clearly proven wrong at this point. Chiya found a switch next to one of the beds with several controls, she immediately began messing around with it, quickly revealing that it was a transformer.

"Woah!" she shouted as the bed began to vibrate.

She then found a switch that made it raise or lower the bed, even spin it around slightly, "This is pretty awesome!"

Earl nodded approvingly at her discovery, this seemed much more expensive than two-hundred-thousand credits. Chiya then found a switch that began to fold it slightly, raising the bed somewhat into a triangle instead-but it didn't continue to fold much further.

Chiya raised an eyebrow at the slightly folded bed in confusion, "Well that's weird, you definitely couldn't sleep on that large fold…"

Earl and Seppuku both clenched their teeth at the sight of this, clearly seeing some other use for this that Chiya couldn't. Earl immediately grabbed the switch from her and put it back to normal, "Let's check the rest of the ship out then!" he said with a stuttering tone.

Earl and Seppuku were inspecting the bridge of the ship, Chiya was in the kitchen assuming that the refrigerator was pre-filled with some goods. She opened the fridge, but was utterly shocked at what she found-just like every other fridge she opened.

"Bee-" she quickly held her mouth and looked over at the bridge, neither of the two had heard her discovery.

She quickly scooped up all of the alcohol and carried the bottles to the loading ramp, angrily throwing it all onto the ground. _Why would you keep beer on a ship? Drink and fly, you're bound to hit one of those towers… _she thought while shaking her head negatively.

Seppuku momentarily came back into the living room with Earl, "Alright, huddle up!" he ordered. Chiya pranced over to the two quickly, Seppuku exhaled as he was about to speak, "Alright, so maybe I was a little off, this ship is actually pretty fitting for our organization-not too big, not too small."

Chiya put her hands together happily, she had prevailed over him in yet another argument, "So you admit that I wa-"

"There are two bedrooms, but plenty of beds-so we need to set down some ground rules…"

Chiya and Earl both looked at him nervously, "A few minutes in and you're already annexing her ship…" said Earl.

"Either you and Earl sleep in the same room, or me and Earl do."

Chiya and Earl both grunted at the options, Chiya dipped her head somewhat embarrassed, "I would prefer that Earl shares a room with you."

Earl glared at her, "_Well_!"

Chiya shook her hands at him negatively, "Well I'm a girl, you two are boys, therefore it's only fair that we keep genders together."

Earl nodded in agreement, "She has a point,"

Seppuku grinded his teeth angrily, "Oh, whatever! That's the worst excu-"

"It's my ship Seppuku, take it or leave it."

Seppuku hesitantly nodded at her, he was okay with this arrangement, but had expected that the two would want to stay close together since they were good friends.

"Then the last problem we have, is where we're going to keep this ship, obviously we need somewhere to put it for free."

Earl and Chiya both began to think of somewhere to put it, they would have to somehow conceal it so the Federation wouldn't find it and charge them for illegal parking.

"That's a real tough one…" muttered Chiya.

"Red Canyon," said Earl. The two looked at him somewhat confused, "We can hide it in one of the gorges of the canyon, it's only a few miles away from Mute City so there shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Seppuku held his chin while humming, "I guess it's an idea, I was hoping for somewhere _in_ Mute City though."

"Well there's nowhere to hide it in a metropolis like this."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "Red Canyon."

Seppuku ultimately nodded as well, "Alright then, I'll scout out a location in Red Canyon to put it in the coming days, after which we'll take a vacation or something through space."

Chiya puckered her lips excitedly, "Sounds fun! Will we go to a new planet?"

Seppuku tapped his fingers on his chin, he had never owned a personal ship before and wasn't use to the freedom of traveling through space. He ultimately shrugged with a grin, "Why the Hell not…"

"Green Plant!"

"Sand Ocean."

Chiya immediately glared at Earl at the recommendation of Sand Ocean, he then began to chuckle at her, "I'm just kidding…"

Chiya was born and raised on Mysteria, which was a fairly moist and cool planet because of the constant fog, because of this she had a very hard time handling hot temperatures. When the three went to Sand Ocean the past year for the third race of the annual Grand Prix, she nearly drove the two insane with her constant complaining.

"I'll think where we can go after I find where to land, for now-stay vigilant, we still have to worry about Blaskovitz's return…"

Chiya got a serious expression and nodded, "Yes sir."

In a dark part of Mute City, Brock Blaskovitz sat in a chair looking at a monitor-Black Shadow was speaking with Brock as he polished his large war hammer.

"So you know of her whereabouts?" asked Black Shadow.

"Not quite, but I did encounter both Flower and the Lieutenant, I'll have Flower back in your ship by the end of December-guaranteed."

Black Shadow smirked at Brock, "Very good, bring her back _alive_, after she spills all of her information-then you can kill her."

Brock had a large smile as he looked away, "A-aw, well I can't guarantee that she'll have all her bones intact when I present her to you, but I'll resist the urge to kill her…"

"Remember Blaskovitz, if Seppuku gets in your way-call Blood Falcon, only he can deal with him."

"-and if he kills Seppuku?"

"He won't, you may misunderstand-I want Seppuku returned to me unharmed."

Brock raised an eyebrow at him, Black Shadow wanted Seppuku alive, but Captain Falcon dead-a plan that was making no sense to him.

"He will come to save the girl-if he truly has become a hero; and I'll finally finish what I started with him," Brock smirked at Black Shadow, finding his plan fairly well thought out, "One way or another-Seppuku will help me finally kill Captain Falcon…"

To be continued…


	7. Lap 6

==Lap 6=

Two more days had passed, Seppuku now had one day to find an area in Red Canyon to put Chiya's ship, if he failed to get the ship out of the hangar in time, they would have to pay a fee for the hangar-and neither of the three had enough money to afford an Upper City hangar. All three had now mutually agreed that the ship was well worth it, the cost for fuel was the only part concerning them, though it did come with a full tank to get them started. Seppuku had established that as soon as they got everything figured out, they would take a trip to a different planet-Chiya had a feeling that there was something more to this than just a _vacation_.

Chiya came walking down the hallway of the base happily, humming the signature Mute City race tune that so many fans knew by heart, the other one being the theme played at the Big Blue racetrack. Seppuku was currently out of the base looking around Red Canyon, he had to find an area in Red Canyon that tourists would never find. Chiya's humming was interrupted at the sound of Earl making struggling sounds inside of his room, she naturally assumed that something was wrong. She pulled out her handgun and got to the side of the wall, inching her way up to his door, the more she listened to him, the more relaxed she became-it was clear that he wasn't in danger, rather he sounded like he was working out. She carefully peeked her head around his door and could see Earl constantly throwing his fists in front of him.

What's he doing?

she thought to herself.

He appeared to be training his hand-to-hand combat skills, but not in any way she had ever seen. He was only using his index and middle fingers in his swings, back handing the air rather than simply punching it. She was amazed at the swiftness he had in between his attacks, as soon as he threw one hand in front of him, the other one immediately reacted by grabbing the air-as if he was grabbing someone's arm. Chiya had no idea why he was doing this, they never found themselves in situations that required this kind of combat-usually guns only.

Earl turned his head towards the door with his right arm still stretched out, Chiya immediately gasped and prepared to retreat from the door-but was already caught.

"You can come in ya' know."

Chiya dipped her head feeling ashamed for eavesdropping on him without his knowledge, "Sorry…"

"Door was opened, that kind of means you're allowed to enter."

Chiya nodded her head, momentarily looking at his hand which still had a curved index and middle finger, "What'cha doing?"

"Practicing _Seoli Idong_."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "Uh, wh- what? Holy dong?"

"No, it's pronounced like; _hally dung._"

Chiya slowly nodded her head, "Seoli Idong…"

"Yes, Seoli Idong."

"Looks kind of stupid, no offense-what's the point of it?"

Earl narrowed his eyes angrily at her, clearly taking offense to this, but momentarily closed his eyes and chuckled, "Only one of the most superior fighting techniques, Seoli Idong has been a required course in Korea for nearly a century now-unlike many others, I see the importance of this art and try to embrace it even though I don't live in Korea anymore."

"What about Karate? Is that better than Seoli Idong?" asked Chiya.

Earl growled slightly at this, "We don't learn Japanese things in Korea, so I couldn't tell you-but I'd guess that it's inferior to our art." Chiya appeared intrigued by Earl's culture, Korea was one of the most changing places on Earth, being one of the only remaining nations, Chiya didn't know anything about Earth however, and usually assumed that Earth had always been united as one large nation.

"Seoli Idong has never failed me, the only person that could possibly match my skills-is another person who knows this skill."

Chiya smirked at him defiantly, "Sure didn't seem that way with Blood Falcon on Aeropolis…"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Blood Falcon has powers, it wasn't a fair fight from the start," he then looked up with a grin, "So if we're ever cornered in hand-to-hand combat, just let me deal with them-cause I'll always win."

Chiya laughed at him, "Yeah right, you're over exaggerating…" Earl raised an eyebrow at her with a smirk, she then raised her fists at him and got in a combat stance, "Watch, I'll take you down!"

Earl stepped back wide-eyed, "Wh- what?"

Chiya had a confident grin on her face as she challenged Earl to a duel, Earl and Chiya's rooms had carpet floors, so hitting the ground wouldn't be too painful.

"Let's fight, whoever hits the floor first, loses."

Earl rubbed his forehead feeling awkward, "I- I can't do that Chiya, you're a girl…"

Chiya took offense to this and leapt towards him, but he dodged her just in time-still not wanting to fight, "A female can be just as strong as a man!"

Earl stepped away from her as she turned towards him again, "Th- that's no- I wasn't making some kind of sexist remark, it's just-"

"You're just scared that you're Korean moves won't be able to save you…"

Earl couldn't believe what he was hearing, Chiya wasn't mad or anything-she just suddenly had the urge to fight him. The remark about his homeland sent his eyebrows down angrily none-the-less.

"Very well, but I warned you…"

Chiya and Earl stood adjacent from each other, both looking each other straight in the eyes, Chiya had a dark looking smirk on her face-prepared to put him to shame. Earl stood still with his arms crossed together intimidating, she could tell that Earl wasn't over exaggerating-he truly believed that his Korean arts would defeat her without a sweat. He appeared to have no intentions of making the first strike, he had no facial expression as he stood with his arms crossed, it was as if he didn't have a concern in the world. Chiya's eyes quivered at him trying to see through his defense.

He seems so relaxed and unprepared, he isn't showing any signs of confidence, fear, or anything-he clearly isn't a book that can be read easily…

"You need to think quicker than this, if I were a real foe-I'd have attacked by now."

Chiya widened her eyes at him for a moment, before narrowing them again. _He sounded confident in himself, meaning he's probably expecting me to do something boneheaded…_ Earl then smirked at her for a slight second, immediately returning to his serious look. Chiya smirked back at him, _that was a legitimate smirk, now I know he's expecting me to do something obvious…_ Earl patiently waited for her to strike, he knew that she was strategizing in her head-only she was wasting a lot of time doing so. _So let's do the unexpected and wrap my arms around him, then kick his legs down!_

Chiya nodded and then charged at him while shouting, Earl continued to stand perfectly still, but was beginning to unfold his arms. Chiya quickly leapt roughly into his chest, but before she could even move her arms up-she was being held by Earl with ease.

"Wh- what the-"

Earl easily kneed her rear and managed to get her legs up in the air as well, completely trapping her within his grasp, "Let me go!"

"Okay."

He then dropped her onto the ground-victorious.

Chiya's back was now hurting from the rough landing, her hair was spread all across the floor as if her head was shining. She was wide-eyed with her mouth still quivering in amazement, he somehow had grasped her arms before she could even raise them. Earl took a few steps over her body and then looked down at her with a slight smile.

"As you can see, Seoli Idong can't-"

"Rematch."

Earl grunted in shock at her request, "You want to go again?"

She momentarily stood up and straightened out her hair, "That wasn't fair-you were psyching me out the whole time, this time I'll be more concentrated."

Earl sighed with a grin on his face, "Alright then."

A few moments later the two got into their stances again, Earl once again standing with his arms crossed. Chiya was standing in her combat stance again, but wasn't as optimistic about an easy win this time. She had a frustrated look, understanding that she had to go hard on him this time. _He won't show any signs of emotion, this must be part of his art-his egoism is his shortcoming…_ she then looked at his crossed arms, realizing that this was the real weapon he had-not his brain. _Right away, grab his arms!_

She then charged at him again, this time leaping into the air before he reached him, this time she had her hands ready to grasp him, looking at his arms. She quickly lunged her hands forward to grab his, but he slapped one away with only two fingers-grabbing onto her other hand with ease. Chiya appeared shocked that he held onto her hand rather than swat it away, she began to slap his cheek in an attempt to stop him. He then grabbed her other hand forcibly and did a quick spin around her-she was caught off guard as both her hands were now behind her head practically tied up. Before she could turn, she had been kicked onto the ground.

Chiya had nearly hit the floor headfirst, but she was fortunate enough to regain control of one hand just in time. She held onto the ground with one hand, she technically wasn't out yet since her chest hadn't hit the floor. She glanced over at Earl's shoe that was visible to her right, he was giving her another chance to get up and fight. Chiya half shut her eyes disgracefully, ultimately lowering her body to the ground on purpose-defeated again.

"Had enough then?" asked Earl.

Chiya closed her eyes as she lay on the floor in shame, but momentarily rolled onto her back-sitting up straight.

"Teach me."

Earl stepped back in surprise at her request, yet he wasn't very surprised that she would want to learn this art. He exhaled at her, "Seoli Idong is something you learn from childhood to adulthood, I don't think I could turn you into an expert on it just like _that_."

"I don't need to be an expert-just enough where I can beat you."

Earl grunted in disgust at this, "Why does this matter to you? It's not like we'll ever fight each other."

"Yeah, but imagine the edge I would have on my enemies if I knew this art."

Earl rubbed his chin contemplating if this was worth teaching her, Chiya had gotten in many situations before where she was stripped of her gun upon capture-having such a skill could get her out of situations.

"You realize I was only demonstrating the self-defense portion of it, right?"

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "I just want the basics, I know you can teach me if we both try our best."

Earl looked up at a flag of Korea he had hung up behind a couch, "I suppose just like Korea and family, you're someone I've sworn to protect; maybe teaching you wouldn't be such a bad idea."

"Great! Then teach me now!" she said excitedly.

Earl shook his head negatively, "Not now Chiya, I was just getting my daily practice done when you walked in."

"Come o-on…"

Earl growled silently at her, "Okay, learn how to do this."

He then curved his index and middle finger together-nothing more. Chiya raised an eyebrow at his hand confused, momentarily mimicking what he did. She momentarily lowered her eyebrows, clearly not amused.

"Wow, how challenging…" she said sarcastically.

Earl whipped his hand around constantly, keeping his fingers completely still as he did so, "Good, now practice keeping the fingers perfectly still as you make swings and punches."

Chiya flung her hand around aimlessly, but was clearly straightening the curved fingers as she swung, she soon realized that there was some challenge in doing this.

"Why is this so hard?" she asked trying to keep her fingers curved.

Earl chuckled at her, "Yeah it's weird-but necessary, you'll know you're doing it right once it feels like your fingers are made of steel as you swing."

Chiya continued to swing her hand, trying to keep her fingers curved-no matter how hard she tried, her fingers would straighten slightly as she swung. As she continued to attempt this, Seppuku soon walked into the room catching her doing this.

"Oh for the love of-you're teaching her that Korean crap aren't you?"

Chiya stopped swinging her hand and turned towards Seppuku, surprised to see him back so early.

"For the last time Seppuku-it's a legitimate skill that has been proven to be more effective than the humans default combat art."

"Whatever…"

Chiya held her hands together behind her back, "Did you find an area in Red Canyon?"

"Damn right I did."

Chiya clapped her hands silently, "Great! So the ship is parked then?"

"Not yet, I was coming back to get you guys so we can do that together-before I realized that Earl was showing his little magic tricks to you."

Earl chuckled at him in response to the hostile remark, "Magic tricks…"

A while later, the three were driving to the spaceport again, Chiya was still baffled as to how someone like Earl could beat her so easily. _Apparently charms isn't his only weapon-I bet he's terrible with a gun though_, she thought while looking at the rear of the _Red Dove_. Chiya found herself only steering with one hand, still trying to perfect the curved fingers lesson. She became frustrated as she simply couldn't keep them perfectly curved and together as she swung, it seemed like a simple task-but she wasn't perfecting it off the bat, which was angering her.

"Come on already!" she yelled aloud, she began to swing her hand more violently-but this wasn't getting her any further.

She then foolishly crashed right into the back of the _Red Dove_, having not kept her eyes on the road at all. She was trembling greatly, expecting that both F-Zero machines were crushed, fortunately they were driving F-Zero machines-which were designed for collisions. It was only a slight collision, so there was absolutely no visible damage on either vehicle. Moments later, Seppuku and Earl exited the _Red Dove_, the _Purring Kitten_ was still pushed against the rear of the _Red Dove_. She hadn't realized how close they were to the hangar, as it was just off to the side of them. She jumped out of her vehicle and regrouped with Seppuku and Earl.

"Flower, you idiot," said Seppuku.

"Sorry…" she muttered while dipping her head down.

Seppuku nodded and looked back at the hangar, he noticed that the hangar door was left completely open-anyone could have gotten in the past days.

Seppuku clenched his fists in amazement, "You forgot to close the door!?"

"I'm sor- wait, no-o, _we_ forgot to close the door, any one of us should have noticed that!"

Seppuku growled at her as he began walking towards the ship, Chiya and Earl followed him momentarily. The fact that the ship wasn't stolen was enough for Chiya, the worst someone could have done was steal from the ship-or vandalize.

The three entered the ship and saw that everything was the same, Chiya exhaled in relief. She began to smile as she looked around the main quarters of the ship, the living room and kitchen were technically just one room, but the kitchen had a counter that was dividing the two, therefore someone in the kitchen could see the living room and vice-versa.

"Alright, Earl, you can pilot this thing for us," said Seppuku.

Earl grunted and turned towards him with a smirk, "What makes you think I know how to fly?"

"Do you?"

Earl dipped his head down, "Well, yes-but I don't really want to is all."

"I'll fly it," said Chiya raising her hand up.

Seppuku grinned at her, "Then that settles it-I'll fly the ship," Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, but she had no plans to object to this, as she would prefer freely roaming the ship anyways, "Everyone will fly this ship at least once however, I need to make sure everyone knows how to pilot this."

Chiya and Earl both nodded affirmatively, Seppuku then turned around and began walking towards the bridge of the ship-it was more of a cockpit because of the size, but was still considered a bridge since the ship was so large. Chiya turned around and saw a panel that would close the loading ramp and door; she pressed a button on it, making the door and ramp close up. Earl turned around startled at the noises the door was making, it was fairly rusty sounding.

"Good work, we shoul-" Earl quickly stopped and widened his eyes, "Wait don't start the ship yet!" he yelled running towards the bridge.

Chiya gritted her teeth nervously and looked around the room for what may have presented a problem to him, everything seemed normal though.

"We forgot the F-Zero machines," he said while grabbing Seppuku's chair.

Seppuku exhaled, "Good catch, we would've had to fly right back here if we'd forgotten," he then turned around and pointed at the approaching Chiya, "You and Chiya go get the machines."

Earl nodded at him, then began walking back to the living room, Chiya somewhat left her mouth opened in shock at the request, _Can Earl really pilot an F-Zero machine?_

She looked down at Seppuku and immediately jolted up straight in fear of his intense stare, she then ran after Earl.

"I'll show you how to put it in, just stay behind me," said Earl.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and began to hum doubtfully, "You think you can drive an F-Zero machine?"

Earl countered her question with a chuckle, "I practically built the Red Dove, and I completely built the Purring Kitten-you don't think I can pilot an F-Zero machine?"

"It's not as easy as it looks, Earl…"

Earl shook his head at her with a smile, "Well aren't you the egoistic one, you win one race, and you're already acting like Seppuku," Chiya took some offense to this, but brushed it off with a smile, "Racing on the other hand-I cannot do."

Chiya nodded at him and turned towards the _Purring Kitten_, she began to flail her hand in the air with her two fingers curved-still trying to perfect the first lesson of Seoli Idong.

"Wrong."

Chiya turned around towards him again with an intrigued look, "Wrong? It's just a simple-"

"Obviously you're expecting everything to work without thinking, in other words-you're trying way too hard."

"What do you mean? Give me a hint on what to do…"

Earl let out a sarcastic laugh at the term _hint_.

"I think I see your first problem-try doing it without your fingers curved."

Chiya then straightened her two fingers and began punching the air, but to her surprise-now her fingers curved every time she swung, "Wha- what?"

"Before you can do it the correct way, you need to be able to do it the wrong way, so practice with your fingers uncurved."

Chiya continued to try this, but was finding that her fingers would curve slightly, she was becoming even more frustrated knowing that she couldn't do something just as easy.

She swatted her arms down angrily, "This is stupid! Can we just skip this part for now and move on?"

Earl climbed aboard the _Red Dove_ but looked back at her with a grin, "When fixing an engine, can you skip the part where you take out the screws?"

Chiya did not respond to this, but she knew the answer was clearly: _No_.

Earl then closed the cockpit of the _Red Dove_ and turned it on, Chiya got on the _Purring Kitten_ and prepared to follow him. She wasn't mad at Earl, but she had this urge not to give up on the Korean art she had only just learned about-it was possible that she was jealous of Earl being superior to her combat-wise. The _Red Dove_ slowly went towards the hangar, Chiya wasn't surprised that he was driving an F-Zero machine like he would a normal vehicle-very slowly. _You finally get to drive an F-Zero machine, and you don't even use the moment to go fast?_ she thought in frustration. Chiya would always respect Earl for being the man he was; an honorable man who lived to protect the ones he cared for-country, family, and friends.

Earl drove the _Red Dove _up one of the large loading ramps on the right side of the ship, he simply drove into the ship and turned off the vehicle. Chiya expected that it would be more difficult, considering he told her to watch how he does it, she was somewhat offended now-feeling that he was calling her stupid, as if she didn't know how to put a vehicle into a garage like structure. She drove up the other loading ramp, placing the _Purring Kitten_ right to the side of the _Red Dove_. Earl immediately got out and pressed a button, closing the large doors. Chiya was somewhat surprised that he knew right where to find the door controls, as if he'd been in a ship like this before.

"We're good!" Earl loudly shouted.

Seppuku nodded to himself and turned on the ship, a loud booming noise could be heard right behind Chiya and Earl, as they were in the back of the ship where the engine was. Chiya was showing a clear look of nervousness, she had been on ships many times before, but always feared that a disaster could strike-like the ship turning off in midair. Chiya exhaled as she walked up to Earl, trying to keep herself calm.

"I think I found my first complaint on this ship," Earl looked back at her as the ship began lifting out of the hangar, "There's no windows in this ship, only in the bridge."

Earl nodded in agreement, "That will get annoying-but we could install some windows."

Chiya puckered her lips surprised by the proposal, "You know how to do that?"

"I have some skill in ship maintenance, I'll have to explore this thing a little before I can make major repairs to it though, I usually only work on automobiles."

"Can we put guns on the ship then?"

Earl showed a look of discontent, "I-I'm not sure about that, I don't have a clue how to do that…"

Chiya clenched her fist, "Dang, I bet that's illegal anyways," she then found herself swatting her hand in the air again, this time with her two fingers straightened.

Earl was finding it hard to watch her fail so many times, finally exhaling at her, "You obviously can't concentrate enough, so here's an opportunity I'm only going to give once…"

Chiya looked at him excitedly, expecting that he would teach her some kind of shortcut. Earl began to move his bangs out of the way, his forehead now exposed completely.

"Curve your fingers and punch me."

Chiya gasped at him, immediately shaking her head disapprovingly, "I'm not doing that!"

"Just once, and don't hold back like a baby-I need you to legitimately try punching me with curved fingers so I can evaluate you better."

Chiya was grunting with her eyebrows lowered, yet she found her fist in front of her, _Can I really bring myself to punch my best friend? What if I break his nose?_

"I'm not going to go full force on-"

"No, punch me as if I were Brock Blaskovitz-just one time."

Chiya's hand was trembling as she lifted it up, she curved her fingers and almost had a sad look on her face. She managed to stop trembling, but clenched her teeth nervously with a sad look.

"Okay, here it comes…"

Earl nervously waited for her to strike him, he was resisting the urge to show any fear-though he was panicking in his mind. He faked a grin in an attempt to motivate her to punch with force-he wouldn't be grinning for long however. Chiya breathed in, then with a swift move threw her fist straight at his face, her two fingers hit his forehead as her other clenched fingers beat the lower part of his face. Earl was immediately knocked down onto his knees, grabbing his face as soon as he hit the ground.

"Earl I'm sorry!"

"K- keep your hand just as it is…" he said trying to get up.

Chiya kept herself from watering, as she was regretting what she had just done, luckily Earl didn't appear to be bleeding at all. He looked up at Chiya's hand, it was still clenched with two perfectly curved fingers. Chiya slightly gasped at the sight of her hand-she succeeded in keeping the fingers curved.

"Good work, now I know what your problem really is," Chiya lowered her hand while still looking at him with quivering eyes, "You need to practice on something you hate, or at least imagine punching."

"But I don't hate you!"

"I know you don't, I'll get a picture of Brock Blaskovitz's face and put it on my punching bag, we'll see if that helps you."

Chiya nodded slightly, she didn't like that Earl had her punch him, though he did seem fine.

"I'm never going to punch you again."

Earl laughed at her, slightly snorting, "Good, cause that hurt like Hell-though I could tell that you still held back."

Chiya shook her head negatively at him, "I wouldn't punch my sister, I wouldn't punch you, I wouldn't punch Sep- well actually I did punch him-twice."

The two were suddenly knocked back as the whole ship began to rock, Chiya gritted her teeth wide-eyed, "What's going on!?"

The rocking stopped, Earl and Chiya quickly ran to the living room, Seppuku was just coming out of the bridge and met them there.

"We're here."

Chiya and Earl both appeared surprised at Seppuku, Chiya shook her head in confusion, "No way, we _just_ left…"

Seppuku chuckled, "Okay, I ma-ay have been going a bit over the speed limit…"

Chiya sighed at him, "Well let's see this area you found us."

The three exited the ship and were now in Red Canyon, Seppuku had found a gorge that was covered in shade-the ship would never be spotted from the sky. Chiya and Earl were standing next to each other as Seppuku took a few extra steps away from them, he then pointed towards a valley.

"I believe that valley will lead us back to the cliffs of Red Canyon, from there we can ride back to Mute City as we wish."

Chiya was actually amazed at the location he had picked out, it was a shame that they had to keep it hidden from the Federation, otherwise they could have invested in starting a secondary base of operations in the gorge.

"I think this would make a nice place to go camping," said Earl.

Chiya clapped her hands excitedly at the proposal, "Camping in a canyon, now that sounds fun!"

"Sounds fairly idiotic to me, don't we have a ship right here? That eliminates the purpose of camping."

Chiya growled at Seppuku in response, she knew that he just condemned doing anything that was fun, but would condone his point for now.

"Well you picked a great spot, I'll give you that much," Earl complimented.

"Yep, as we get further through December, we'll have to make sure that the ship isn't freezing-but it doesn't get very cold in this part of Asia."

"I both love and hate the Winter, but I never got to see the wonders of a blizzard," said Chiya.

Earl turned his head at her in confusion, "Wonders?"

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "I never get to see the wonders of a quiet Chiya…"

"-and _I_ wonder why you haven't brought me to the F-Zero committee yet for evaluation…"

To be continued…


	8. Lap 7

_::WARNING:: This chapter may be very unsettling for many readers, especially if you've read the story all the way up to this point. Contains: Very violent moments, overly sexual scenes. You have been warned. __::WARNING:: _

==Lap 7=

A few days later, Chiya improved her skills in Seoli Idong, Earl was acting as a teacher for Chiya by allowing her to practice on him. The very first lesson for her was learning how to punch with two perfectly curved fingers-without breaking the curve at all. Earl and Chiya discovered that she could do this only when confronted with a target, therefore Earl set up a punching bag again and printed out an old picture of Brock Blaskovitz to put on it. Chiya wasn't quite understanding what the benefits of punching with two fingers curved was, but Earl had proven that his way of fighting was superior compared to hers, so she was willing to listen.

Earl had put down a large blue wrestling mat in his room, by now he was realizing that teaching Chiya Seoli Idong could be entertaining-especially since he was the one teaching it. Chiya and Earl were standing on opposite ends of the mat, adjacent to each other, both had their footwear off-except for their socks.

"I'm going to charge and try grabbing you, except I'm not going to use Seoli Idong on you-just a regular grab," explained Earl.

"What am I suppose to do?"

"The objectives are the same-get the opponent on their chest or back."

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "Are you going to throw me on the ground?"

"Not roughly, but if you use what you learned correctly, I shouldn't be able to even touch you."

Chiya nodded again with a smirk, "Come at me then!"

Earl stretched his arms out, then got into a stance showing that he was about to charge. Chiya swallowed nervously and got her right fingers curved, the other hand was meant to be clenched normally. Earl came running towards Chiya with his arms in front of him, she planted her feet firmly on the ground so she wouldn't simply be knocked down. She quickly beat her hand into his face-stopping his charge, she then punched one of his arms away from her as she quickly kicked his chest. Earl was knocked back, but hadn't fallen over as planned; Chiya planted her feet down again, but was unsure what he would do next. He then bent over somewhat and slowly approached her while licking his lips, _I stopped the charge, but what do I do now?_ she thought frantically.

Earl then leapt at her and managed to get his arms around her waist, immediately sweeping her off her feet. Chiya began to panic as he softly lowered her to the ground, he made sure that her back touched the ground while still holding her. She growled as she had lost against him again, when he wasn't even using his Korean art, he continued to hold her even though the match was over.

"Don't get mad, you did manage to block me-you just couldn't strike me down right off the bat."

She looked down nervously, expecting him to rudely drop her at any moment, "I would hardly call that fair…"

Earl chuckled at her face, "Why not? I was fighting you with mere brute force-no tricks."

"How damn romantic…" Seppuku said walking in the room.

Earl and Chiya both widened their eyes, Earl letting go of her immediately after, she hit the floor roughly on her back.

"Ou-uch, Earl you bastard…"

"How can I help you, Lieutenant?" asked Earl.

"I was just walking by, when suddenly I saw Romeo and Ju-"

"Do you need something?" asked Earl somewhat hostilely.

Seppuku smirked at him, "I'm just kidding, Chiya's not a very likeable person."

Chiya got up staring at him angrily, "Shut up-look who's talking, at least I like to have fun!"

"Fun, another annoying trait about you, but while we're on the subject of, _fun_…"

"O-oh boy…" muttered Earl.

"I have somewhere I want to take you in a bit Chiya."

Chiya widened her eyes at him somewhat shocked, "Y- you want to go somewhere fun with me?" Seppuku nodded affirmatively at her, she then narrowed her eyes with a smirk, "Well I know this isn't going to actually be a fun place-give me a minute to guess…"

Earl chuckled at her argument, Seppuku was grinning at her-clearly not offended by her.

"Slaughterhouse?"

"Nope."

"Fight Club?"

"Not this time…"

"Skin Bar?"

"Not even close."

Chiya tapped her fingers on her puckered lips as she thought, Seppuku was silently chuckling to himself, "Slaughterhouse, you're funny Chiya."

"Federation Headquarters?"

"Your close…"

Earl looked up at Seppuku, "Another bet race?"

"Shut up Earl."

Chiya snapped her fingers, "Prison?"

Seppuku shrugged at her, "Close enough, you and me are going to the Mute City Maximum Security Detention Center."

Earl and Chiya both widened their eyes at him, "What the Hell's there that would interest Chiya?"

"An old friend," Seppuku answered quickly. He then began walking towards the door, "Tell me when your ready and we'll go."

Chiya glanced over at Earl for a moment, then sighed as she walked over to her boots, "Just get the Red Dove started, I'll be there in a minute…"

Seppuku nodded and then began walking towards the garage, Chiya was putting her boots back on-the sooner she got done with this random mission, the sooner she could get back to doing things she enjoyed. Chiya then looked up as she heard the TV turn on, the first thing she could pick up from it was that there was a documentary on about World War III, which is why Earth's continents were now messed up, and how Red Canyon was formed just outside of Mute City-formally known as Tokyo. Earl said nothing else, simply leaping onto his bed watching TV.

She stood up feeling awkward, as if her presence was being completely disregarded. She slowly began moving towards the door, expecting him to leave her off with something to say, but he seemed instantly focused on the TV.

"Um, okay then, bye," she said waving at him from the door.

"Yeah, maybe later…" he muttered back to her.

She closed her eyes angrily at him, momentarily closing the door behind her as she left.

A few minutes had passed, for practically the first time, Chiya didn't feel like driving, so she hitched a ride with Seppuku instead. She was looking around the cockpit of the _Red Dove_ somewhat shocked, she hadn't rode in the machine as a passenger since the first few days she had been working with Seppuku and Earl-back when the _Purring Kitten_ was just a large heap of grey metal. Seppuku was driving down the busy streets of the Upper City; as usual, several pedestrians were stopping to look at the _Red Dove_ in excitement, people were always amused at the sight of an F-Zero machine-even the _Purring Kitten_.

"So who's this _friend_ we're gonna' see?"

Seppuku chuckled at the question, "He'll be very excited to see you."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "So, he's bad or good?"

"I'm not going to ruin the surprise for you…"

Chiya sarcastically chuckled at him, "Wanker."

Seppuku chuckled at her, he was known to provide Chiya with little information just so he could see the look on her face. By now Chiya realized that every time he did this, it wasn't something good, so she could assume that they were going to in all actuality-be meeting some kind of villain.

Several minutes later, Chiya and Seppuku walked down the entrance of the Maximum Security Prison, there was an officer behind a desk in the lobby. Seppuku had an unusual smirk on his face, meaning that he was eager for Chiya to meet whoever this was. Chiya was nervous walking around a place with so many police officers, she didn't view herself as a criminal, but Seppuku was successfully giving her the wrong idea over the past months, leading her to truly believe that the police and Federation were selfish criminals themselves.

Seppuku slammed his fist down on the desk, the officer looked up at him and gasped before giving an annoyed stare at Seppuku, Chiya was hiding slightly behind Seppuku shyly.

"Lieutenant Seppuku, back for more laughter?"

Seppuku chuckled, "Yep."

More laughter? What is this…

she thought with a look of discontent.

The officer sighed, "Write your name down here then…"

Chiya puckered her lips as Seppuku began writing on the paper, nooone knew what his name was, so she was wondering if he would put his actual name down on paper.

"There."

Chiya looked at the paper quickly, but was disappointed at the signature, _BL_ was all he wrote down.

Chiya tugged on his sleeve, "What does BL stand for?"

"None of your business."

Chiya's eyebrows were quivering with a slight smile, "I- I'm pretty sure that's not what it stands for…"

"Let's go…"

She nodded and began to follow him down a hallway, she would have to let her curiosity go for now, but she was determined to one day find out what his real name was. If she could figure out his name, then she could likely find more information about him as a person-like who is parents were, he appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties, so his family could still be alive.

The two approached a door with a guard present, the guard opened the large door for them, ideally the guard would accompany the visitor, but it seemed as though Seppuku had privileges that others didn't, perhaps because he worked with the Federation at one point. The door led to a massive hallway with more officers roaming around with assault rifles, Chiya was becoming even more nervous at the sight of the assault rifles; she was hoping that Seppuku wouldn't do anything boneheaded to provoke any of the men-but of course, Seppuku pushed an officer to the side as they walked in an authoritative manner.

"Hey!" the officer spat at Seppuku.

Chiya began to tremble, _What the Hell Seppuku!_ she thought angrily.

Seppuku merely laughed at the officer, completely disregarding him as they continued to walk. Chiya was still following him, but was looking back at the officer constantly-she made a hand gesture hinting that she was sorry. Lieutenant Seppuku was more of an anti-hero, meaning he was a hero-but didn't have very heroic traits. The other officers stopped to look at the dark clothed man and innocent looking girl, as long as Chiya stood next to Seppuku, she would always look like she was up to trouble.

"What was that about?" she whispered.

"He was in my way," he said loudly back at her.

The officers clearly heard his response, but for whatever the reason, they didn't show any signs of interfering with his mission. Chiya was becoming more paranoid by the minute, he seemed to have control over everyone in the prison-he didn't even ask to enter the door before, the guard just opened it for him without questions.

He opened one more door with a red light above it, and that's when things got plain out disturbing for Chiya. They were suddenly faced with hundreds of cellblocks; instead of metal bars, it was impenetrable glass keeping the prisoners locked up. Chiya gritted her teeth nervously as she looked at all of the men in orange jumpsuits, many of them with strange facial hair, tattoos, ripped clothes, and stern looks. _Not many women here…_ she thought nervously.

They continued walking down the hallway, passing by several cellblocks-each one containing at least two criminals. Several of the prisoners stood up at the sight of Chiya and got up to the window, many of them banging on the glass. Chiya gasped at the sight of several prisoners obsessing over her as she walked, she began to bite on her finger fearfully. She was especially scared at two prisoners, one was licking the window while the other was clawing at it.

Something tells me that they want to be more than just friends…

She then looked up at Seppuku while trembling, "I don't want to be here, these people are scary!"

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Don't be a criminal, or you'll end up here with all of these dirty animals."

Chiya began to twitch at the thought of actually being locked up with all of the deranged men, this was a Maximum Security Prison however, meaning only the worst of criminals went here.

"Surely there's a separate section for women?" she asked in a stuttering tone.

"Let's get one thing straight Chiya, if you're in here; then no one cares about you," she widened her eyes at his point, the death sentence wasn't allowed-therefore the worst criminals were just locked up here for the remainder of their life, "A woman wouldn't last a day here; she'd be harassed, violated, and then killed by the other inmates-someone like you would be candy to them…"

Chiya shook her head constantly, "Well that's okay because I'm a good person!"

Seppuku smirked at her, "Perhaps here, but not on Mysteria, apparently…"

Chiya growled at him in response, neither Seppuku or Earl knew what she did on Mysteria to get a bounty on her head; only that her mother helped her escape from the planet. Her dad died not long before as a result of an anonymous bombing on her hometown by a massive ship.

Chiya continued to cringe at the sight of all the sick men eyeballing her from behind their cells, "Are we almost there?"

Seppuku nodded affirmatively, "We're heading to the workout section of the prison."

Chiya was at this point too disturbed by all of the inmates, she was now heavily regretting her decision to come along; hanging out with Earl now seemed like the better option she could have simply chosen.

The two eventually came to a massive impenetrable window, behind it was a massive room with dumbbells and bodybuilding equipment. Seppuku stood in front of it and pounded on the window, alerting several of the inmates that were working out of his presence. Chiya was looking at the weights with a raised eyebrow, something about the lifts seemed familiar to her.

"Wait, the only criminals I know that liked to lift, was Brock Blaskovitz and-"

It was then that a bald, dark-skinned, very muscular man, came walking towards the window with sunglasses.

"Michael Chain!" she yelled in awe.

Michael Chain was wearing an orange jumpsuit as well-only he ripped it up to make it look like a muscle shirt, his pants were also very dirty, almost brown-this seemed intentional however.

"Seppuku and the girl…"

Chiya hid behind Seppuku in fear of him, Seppuku grabbed her ear and tugged her back to his side.

"Relax Chiya, he's like a shark in an aquarium."

Chiya nodded her head, growing the spirits to look Chain right in the eyes.

Chain smirked at the two, "So from what I've heard behind these walls, you destroyed Red Star…"

Chiya hesitantly nodded, "I killed Brock Blasko- err, I thought I did at least…"

"So how's life been treating you, now that your finally where you belong?" asked Seppuku.

Chain brushed off his remark with a large smile, "Pretty sweet, the Bloody Chain now has about a hundred members, all prepared to start a riot whenever I wish them to!"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, looking behind Michael Chain were several other muscular men-his men.

"Yo- your going to try restarting the gang?"

Chain nodded at her, "As soon as I bust free, me and my men are heading to Mysteria-as long as the Federation hates us, they'll protect us-in which I'll begin to grow back my numbers!"

Chiya growled at the mentioning of Mysteria, Seppuku would likely want to take Chain down again if he escaped-meaning she would be forced to go back to her planet with Seppuku and Earl. Going back to Mysteria was something Chiya never intended on doing, with the exception of any Mist Flow races, in which she'd have to go back.

Several muscular men began to look through the window behind Michael Chain, most of them obsessing over Chiya. Chain growled and then turned towards them angrily, "What is it?"

"A girl!" one responded.

"Yeah, yeah, get back to work!" he ordered, pointing at the weight lifting machines.

Chiya looked away from the window feeling awkward, Seppuku smirked at Chain, "You really think you can break out of a Maximum Security prison?"

Chain chuckled at him, "That's right! I just haven't determined when a good time is…"

Chiya took a step back nervously, she was considering just leaving without Seppuku and stay in the _Red Dove_ while he wrapped things up with Chain.

"You can't break out, the windows are way too strong; besides, there are officers everywhere with assault rifles," said Seppuku.

Chiya softly tugged on his sleeve, "Okay, no need to rile hi-"

"Would you place a wager on that?"

Chiya widened her eyes looking up at Seppuku, "No, no wager Seppuku, just let it go!"

"Damn right I do."

She groaned at him, her words were invisible to him.

"I'll bet that I can break out _and_ get the Wild Boar out of Federation possession!"

Seppuku laughed at him, "Now that's unheard of, but this is why I come here so often, I love laughing at prisoners such as yourself." Michael Chain gritted his teeth angrily at him, clenching his fists together, "You couldn't even beat Blaskovitz, something even Chiya could do-basically I'm comparing you to a twenty-three year old gir-"

Michael Chain then busted his hand right through the window with abnormal strength, blood came gushing out of his arm as he did this-but he didn't show any signs of pain from this. Chiya and Seppuku both gasped and took a few steps back.

"You did it now Seppuku!" she yelled angrily.

Red lights began to flash all over the building, followed by a siren. Michael Chain released his hand from the window, simply kicking it down now that it was damaged. Several other prisoners now began to help him break the window-Seppuku had provoked a prison break.

Chiya began to panic, reaching down for her handgun-but she didn't bring it. She gasped and did what she would normally do in such a situation, she pressed the device on her waist that would inform Seppuku that she was in trouble. Seppuku looked down at his waist, then looked back at Chiya angrily.

"Yeah, I know we're in trouble, are you daft?"

Chiya brushed off the comment, it was a random boneheaded thing for her to do, but was simply scared out of her mind and couldn't think.

"I need a gun!" she yelled.

"What?! Why didn't you bring your own!?"

"I forgot it…"

"So help me Chiya!" he yelled angrily pulling out his long rifle.

He aimed the rifle towards the window, but suddenly found that other muscular men in cellblocks were breaking free as well, they would be surrounded any minute.

"Oh, shoot…" he muttered at the sight of shattering windows behind him.

Chiya was completely wide-mouthed at this, she realized that she was in the most danger of the two; both defenseless and an attractive woman.

"What are we goi-"

She then realized that Seppuku had retreated away from the area without her, she gasped loudly and nearly screamed, "You damn bastard!"

She ran down the same hallway they took to get to Michael Chain, but the lights were beginning to power off around her. At this point the cellblocks were filled with erupting yelling and shouting, the sounds of pounding heard everywhere she ran. She soon found herself in a predicament-she didn't know which hallway to turn at.

"Oh God, oh God…"

At this point Michael Chain and nearly thirty other inmates began to charge down the halls of the prison, opening up every single cellblock they could.

"Chiya!" Seppuku's voice echoed.

She was tapping her feet constantly, trying to figure out which hallway his voice came from, the loudness of the prison blanketed his voice.

"Seppuku!" she yelled back.

No response was heard, and she could hear the sound of inmates coming from behind her-she had to choose a hallway.

"Where the Hell's security!?" she yelled frustrated as she ran down a hallway.

The prisoners were all locked up wherever she ran, but it was only a matter of time before she would be confronted by the ones that were free. She was growling angrily as she realized that she picked the wrong hallway, the sound of gunfire could be heard throughout the hallway however, bringing her hope that the officers would save her-if not Seppuku.

She prepared to turn around, but unfortunately was faced with several incoming prisoners-all fairly muscular. She let out a scream and turned back around, running further down the hallway.

"Help me Seppuku!"

She was constantly looking along the walls for something to defend herself with, when way across the hallway she spotted an assault rifle; it was inside of a glass box attached to the wall.

"Yes! Thank you!" she yelled as she ran towards it quickly.

The adrenaline rush she had was giving her superiority over the incoming inmates speed-wise. She threw herself at the box and tried opening it-it was locked. She desperately pounded on the glass, before she realized that it was made of the same impenetrable material as the cellblocks. She angrily pounded her fists on top of the box, momentarily turning around towards the massive crowd of criminals.

"This is it, this is going to happen, I can't believe it!" she said with quivering eyes, "Seppuku you bastard…" she cursed, wishing that she had stayed home with Earl.

She began to hyperventilate, realizing that she would have _everything _done to her in a matter of seconds if she didn't think of something quickly, though she simply sighed wide-eyed at them.

"I've got nothing to lose I suppose…"

She got into a combat stance, keeping her two fingers curved-she had nothing to lose but try and hold them off as long as she could. She knew that she could never hold every one of them off; if she was lucky enough, she would be saved before they got to killing her.

The horde of inmates charged straight into her, but Chiya managed to knock one straight onto the ground using Seoli Idong. She kicked another one in the crotch, and elbowed another in the face-she then leapt back with her fingers still curved, even with her success, she was still being sent back against the wall. She hit another one in the face, this time knocking him onto his knees, she then hit another one in the face as he tried grabbing her-but soon her luck was running out, as her right arm was completely in one's grasp. Before she knew it, her legs were lifted up into the air by several of them, she began to panic and tried desperately breaking free of their grasp; but she was caught.

"Please don't do this!" she pleaded.

The men didn't seem to have any regards for her, one pulling off her boot while another grasped began to squeeze her rear. She shut her eyes with her teeth gritted, realizing that she was going to get brutally toyed with before the inevitable slaughtering. She began to cringe at the unwelcome handling she was getting by the disgusting criminals. Suddenly a bright bolt flew right through the skull of one of her captors, another one momentarily going through the one grasping her rear. Within moments she was dropped onto the floor, Seppuku came charging towards the group furiously. The men all broke away from Chiya at the sight of him, he quickly got up to Chiya who was now trembling on the floor, the group took steps away from the two-realizing that Seppuku was enraged.

"Chiya, did they ra-"

"No, you came just in time," she said exhaling in relief.

Chiya widened her eyes at him as he threw his large rifle into her arms, "Use my rifle."

The inmates were slowly retreating from the two, most of them still watching the two closely, Seppuku was kneeling over Chiya with his fists clenched furiously.

Chiya tried lifting the rifle up, but was amazed at how heavy it was; Seppuku growled as he looked back at the inmates, Seppuku's razor sharp teeth completely exposed.

"B- but Seppuku, what'll you fight with?"

He stood up walking towards the massive amounts of inmates angrily, he then put his hand in his coat-unsheathing a hidden claymore sword; _God Save the Queen_ imprinted on the blade.

"A sword and fist…"

Chiya gasped at the sight of the blade, he hadn't pulled out his sword since he fought Samurai Goroh over Aeropolis, in which he lost.

"S- Seppuku…"

He was dragging the blade of his sword across the floor angrily as he marched towards the inmates, "You think you can just do whatever you want with her? Because she's unarmed!?"

The inmates were all beginning to panic as he closed in on them, they were almost hoping that the security would come and put them back in their cells-because Seppuku was not nearly as merciful as the law, "This is why I love my job, I get to mop the floor with scum…" His sword then began to make a loud sound as he applied more pressure to the floor, "Scum like you!"

Chiya gasped at Seppuku, still on the floor with his rifle in her hands. She looked around at all of the other locked up inmates, everyone was either trembling or jaw dropped-this was likely equivalent to a movie for them.

Seppuku threw his sword up in front of his face as he then clenched his teeth, momentarily raising his scarf up to hide his face-only his nose and cheeks were now visible.

"I'm sending you all straight to Hell!"

Chiya was horrified at the screaming and violence that followed, it was the most violent scene she had ever seen. Seppuku was moving with superhuman speed, killing inmate after inmate with swift movements-it was as if he were teleporting. Chiya lowered her rifle, she no longer had any intention of actually shooting at the inmates, she was in a state of shock at Seppuku's violent nature.

"Oh God! I- I'll get back in my cell, just stop it you monster!" one yelled.

"If I'm a monster, than you're a demon!" he yelled leaping straight at the inmate.

Chiya couldn't stop shaking in horror, the inmates in the cells were now hiding under beds, shaking in the corner, or simply managing to watch the very graphic moment. Chiya had just nearly been raped by these people, yet she found herself hoping that they would somehow escape from Seppuku-but there was no way, Chiya now realized that Seppuku had powers just like Blood Falcon. She found that her boot was on the ground, one of the men had yanked it off as she was about to be stripped down, she pulled it over to her with her foot, still laying on the ground.

Seppuku leapt onto the ground with one of the men, brutally beating his face in with his fist-this is when the security had finally arrived.

"Lieutenant, stop it!"

Seppuku continued to throw his fist at the man's face, leaving him pleading for mercy in a bloody pulp. The officers all tackled Seppuku, trying to stop him-but he was still managing to beat the man. Chiya finally ran up to Seppuku, her eyes completely filled with water at what he was doing.

"Seppuku, please stop!" she begged trying to grab his arm.

Seppuku finally stopped beating the man, leaving him with only grunting sounds-he was alive none-the-less. Seppuku violently pushed Chiya and all the officers off of him, standing up momentarily. The officers were now trained their assault rifles at Seppuku while on the ground, Chiya was shaking her head constantly at him with a shocked expression.

"Seppuku, please calm down! I'm okay, they didn't do anything to me!"

Seppuku made no comment on what had just happened, blood was dripping down his finger tips onto the ground, his sword was completely coated with blood, and his sleeves were now completely soaked as well-he was a bloody mess, yet he himself had taken no harm at all.

He sheathed his claymore blade into his coat moments later, wiping his hands on his long coat without any sign of emotion. The entire prison was silent, what she forgot was that nearly forty people were watching all of this; the inmates were completely silent watching him in horror.

"Please tell me you're not putting _that _guy in this prison!" one of the inmates yelled fearfully.

Chiya got up and approached Seppuku hesitantly, it was what nearly happened to her that triggered him to blow up on the inmates, the question she had however-was why?

Seppuku signaled for Chiya to follow him, she silently gasped, but followed him back down the hallway. The officers made no attempt to stop him, every single one of Chiya's captors were now dead but one, who was severely wounded by his beating. Blood was splattered all over that part of the prison, everywhere he and Chiya walked became silent instantly-it was as if every single inmate in the prison knew that he was trouble.

Chiya hesitantly looked up at him, it was as if she were just meeting Seppuku for the first time, as he had met her in a similar circumstance-only this time he showed no mercy for her captors.

"I- is Michael Chain go-"

He pointed his finger at her forehead, nearly getting blood right on her, "Not a word to Bendek!"

Chiya grunted at his demand, "But…"

"If Earl as so much as asks me _anything_ about what just happened, so help me I'll…"

Chiya was in a state of shock, he just brutally slaughtered everyone on her behalf-now he was threatening her, "Okay, I'll be quiet…" she whimpered.

"As far as Earl's concerned, we had a fun trip to prison-then came back home."

Chiya looked away from Seppuku with her eyes completely widened, this was a secret that would be very hard to hold over her shoulders. Something about her nearly being sexually abused sent him into some kind of enraged state. She now knew that she was more than just an expendable resource in his eyes…

To be continued…


	9. Lap 8

==Lap 8=

It was now late at night, Chiya and Seppuku drove back to the base together, but there was slight tension between the two as Chiya was frustrated with him for provoking Michael Chain to start a prison riot. She had a difficult time yelling at him however, as he had saved her from being violated for the second time-even though the riot was his fault in the first place. Seppuku was demanding that Chiya not speak of anything about the trip to the prison, insisting that she only speaks of how uneventful it was if Earl was to ask. Chiya had isolated herself in her room immediately after getting back, Seppuku went to clean his clothes and take a shower, as he had gotten the blood of inmates all over him. Chiya remained in her room the entire day, she hadn't even left for a bathroom break-she was traumatized at what had happened at the prison and felt that confronting Earl was something she wouldn't be able to do.

Earl came back from the kitchen with a bag of chips in his hands, this was his entire supper due to the deficit they were in. While he didn't necessarily feel the need to hang out with Chiya or Seppuku, he was intrigued as to why Chiya was being so quiet, he assumed that she went to sleep early, but found it odd that she hadn't at least come by to tell him about her visit to the prison.

Earl reentered his room and sat down on his bed, immediately grabbing his TV remote and switching it on. He was a fan of any kind of military channel, whether it was a documentary, news, or a movie; in this case he went on the news. He gasped at the TV with widened eyes, then looked at his door with a serious look.

He quickly exited his room and calmly walked over to Chiya's room, he could see by the door knob that it was locked. He raised an eyebrow at the door, realizing that she was up to something if she locked the door, she always had it unlocked-even when she slept. He got a smirk on his face and silently knocked on the door, he was hoping that she wasn't suddenly angry at him again like on Aeropolis; the two had a very long fight with each other for a few days, labeling each other as rivals in Seppuku's organization-it was all patched up when Earl threw himself at Blood Falcon so she wouldn't be hurt further-despite the fact that they were on bad terms.

The doorknob unlocked, and the door very slowly opened, Chiya only opened it a little however, only revealing half of her face.

"Hi Earl…" she said very silently.

The first thing Earl could notice, was that she was both very quiet, and had a sad look on her face.

Earl stopped smirking and returned a more passionate look instead, "You seem a bit troubled tonight, did something go wrong while with Seppuku?"

She lowered her eyebrows and glanced away from him, "N- no, everything was fine…" she said even more quietly.

Earl didn't believe her, preparing to passionately interrogate her, "Well that's good, you never told me about your day, so I thought I'd come ask myself." Chiya grunted nervously at his intentions, "So, who was the mystery man Seppuku wanted you to meet?"

Chiya slowly pushed her door even more, now only revealing a part of her eye to him, "It was Michael Chain, it was a fun time and I enjoyed it."

"How were the inmates?"

Chiya slightly gasped at this question, the inmates were the ones who traumatized her the most-having nearly been violated by them, "Very dirty, sexual, evil, I don't know…"

Earl nodded at her and smirked, "I was thinking you could come over to my room for a mi-"

"Bendek! Get away from Chiya, she needs her beauty sleep!" lectured an approaching Seppuku.

Chiya then seized the opportunity to shut her door again, Earl turned towards Seppuku in frustration, "Since when do you care about Chiya and her beauty?"

"Get back to work."

Earl shook his head while flailing his arms, "What work? The Grand Prix isn't for another month!" Seppuku then entered his office, locking the door behind him-he then realized that Chiya retreated from the conversation, "Damn."

Chiya sat still on her bed with her legs crossed, she was wide-eyed as she couldn't stop thinking about the moment she was being touched by the inmates, and the moment following where Seppuku brutally slaughtered every single one of them with a sword. Surprisingly, she was more disturbed at the slaughtering than the sexual handling, possibly since the worst they did to her was squeeze her buttocks area constantly. She was holding onto Mauser tightly, silently petting his head as she thought uncomfortably about the day. She was especially disturbed at the final inmate, where Seppuku was beating his face in with his bare hands just so it would be more painful, she and two other officers had to try holding Seppuku down-but he was still managing to attack the inmate. It all ended when Chiya pleaded for mercy on the man, despite the fact that he was amongst the men who were handling her-that was just how brutal it truly was.

"I can't believe I can't tell anyone about this…" she said aloud.

She didn't know who she could turn to, Seppuku wanted her to take this secret to her grave, but she felt the need to talk about this with someone; Seppuku was the only one she could speak to about this, but he wasn't willing to speak. _If I'm this traumatized at being touched, I would've been destroyed if they got the full package…_ she thought as her eyes widened even more.

Moments later she shook her head, she was practically afraid of every man in the world at this point, but needed to talk to someone-even if it wasn't about her experience in prison, she just needed a friend.

She sighed and stood up, walking towards the door while trembling; she expected that Earl would calm her down, him being the only true friend she ever had. She considered Lieutenant Seppuku a friend, though in all actuality he was more of a boss than a friend.

Earl was rolling up the blue wrestling mat, preparing for sleep; except the mat was irrelevant to sleep, he just liked keeping his room as clean as possible. He held up the rolled mat and carried it to the wall, placing it right next to his military uniforms. He stopped to look at his Korean officer uniform, he hardly wore it anywhere during the war-only during celebrations, making it look good as new.

"I sure miss Korea," he then clenched his fist angrily at the Korean flag he had hung up, "But the bastards won't let me back in…"

"Why?"

Earl turned around, revealing Chiya hiding behind his door somewhat shyly. Earl was becoming more confused by the minute, Chiya was acting very quiet and isolated, as if she was new to the organization all over again. Earl decided not to bother her about the prison yet, as it was likely the source of her quiet attitude.

He smirked at her while shaking his head negatively, "The Korean government has wanted me in prison for my war crimes, but I escaped to Japan about four years ago."

Chiya walked into his room the rest of the way, closing and locking the door behind her. Earl widened his eyes nervously at the fact that she locked _his_ door, now he had to fear if she was being cautious, or perverted.

"So you can't go back for your family or anything?" she asked in a silent tone.

Earl groaned at the mentioning of his family, "I'm done with my family, forever."

Chiya left her mouth opened somewhat surprised by his response, even she planned on having a reunion with her family one day, despite the circumstances she was in, "How could you do that? Don't they worry about you?"

"Don't know, don't care; I have no idea where they live, or what they think about me-and I never want to find out."

"But their your family, I'm sure they forgive y-"

"It doesn't matter anyways, I don't want to see them again; besides, I can't go to New Pyongyang to get a new passport, because the government may just be trying to trap me."

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "Wait, new passport?"

He nodded at her, "For two years I've been getting mail from the government of Korea, telling me that me and my entire battalion was acquitted of our war crimes, and that they want me to come back for a passport."

"Sounds like they may be telling the truth."

Earl chuckled at her, "Yeah, first moment I walk in Pyongyang, they'll have me tasered on the ground, I know it's a trap."

Chiya sighed at him, "Very well, I'm sorry for your misfortune…"

Earl nodded at her, then returned a smirk, "So…"

Chiya had a feeling that he was going to ask about the prison again, she looked back at the door nervously, suddenly feeling that she should retreat.

"What did Michael Chain have to say?"

Chiya gritted her teeth and rubbed the back of her head, "I'll just tell you the whole story so you can shut up about it…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows angrily at her, but nodded none-the-less.

She cleared her throat, thinking of an abridged version of her day, "It went something like this…"

:: Chiya's story ::

Seppuku and Chiya were happily walking along the cellblocks of the prison, both gleefully smiling together. The prisoners in their cells were all reading books with each other, discussing the brilliance of the literature they were reading with each other.

"Who are we going to see, Lieutenant Seppuku?" asked Chiya with a smile.

Seppuku happily patted her back, "We're going to go see Michael Chain, and how his life has changed for the better after being locked up-as I'm sure he learned a lesson from all of this!"

"Cooltastic!" she said giving him a thumbs up.

The two approached the large window with the lifts, there were several men exercising, but not bodybuilding-they all had average muscles. Seppuku knocked on the glass carefully, not wanting to damage anything in the prison-as that would be improper. Michael Chain moments later came walking towards the window with an angry look.

"Lieutenant Seppuku and his attractive companion, Chiya Flower!" he said angrily.

Chiya giggled at this, Seppuku bowed to the former gang leader, "Now that we've defeated you, I wanted to show Chiya what it's like for a hardcore criminal such as yourself, in the prison life."

Michael Chain flexed his muscles, "I don't like you two, but I'll tell you, it's hard but is helping me build character, though I think I'll go and restart the Bloody Chain some day when I break out."

Chiya gasped, "Break out? But Michael Chain! That would be illegal and improper!"

Michael Chain slowly turned his head towards her, "I don't care…"

Chiya and Seppuku both gasped loudly, Seppuku nearly fainting at his rude intentions.

:: Story cut-off ::

"You're a really bad liar Chiya…"

She stomped her foot down, "Nope, that's just how it happened, you could even ask Seppuku."

He grinned at her, "So you just happily left after your talk with him?"

"Yep, he then rewarded me for coming by buying me ice cream," he raised an eyebrow at her, "I- it was fun…" she said with a very unrealistic fake smile.

Earl chuckled at her, "You just gave yourself away Chiya, why can't you just be honest with me?" She grunted at him, he was somehow seeing through her lies, "You gave yourself away with the ice cream part-Seppuku never rewards either of us."

She rubbed her arm nervously with her eyebrows lowered, "I- it's the truth…"

Earl finally decided to stop playing around with her and get down to the chase, "So what your saying, is that you completely missed the riot that led to a twenty person massacre?"

Chiya gasped at him with widened eyes, "H- how did you know about that!?"

Earl walked over to his TV, spinning it around towards her; there was breaking news explaining exactly what had happened, showing a picture of Seppuku running down the hallway with his rifle.

"They found thirteen bodies and gallons of blood on the floor," Chiya looked away from Earl, even if he knew what happened, she still had to keep the secret, "Don't even try and tell me that Seppuku wasn't behind this…"

Chiya hummed nervously at him, finally swatting her arms at her waist, "I'm not suppose to tell you anything! Seppuku will punish me if I do!"

Earl nodded at her, "I figured he was behind this, so now I have to confront him about this."

Chiya gasped as Earl came marching towards his door, preparing to go argue with Seppuku about his actions. Earl opened the door and began walking out, but quickly found that Chiya had grabbed his arm tightly with both hands.

"Please don't! He's going to get really angry with me!"

Earl growled at her as he continued to walk with her held onto him, "I'm sorry Chiya, but there's no way he's just going to get away with this without compensating you!"

Chiya now held his arm even tighter, making it harder for him to move towards his office, "Don't do it! I don't need compensation, it was my fault for going with him!"

Earl growled at her again as he was now dragging her along with him, her attempts to stop him by force was very feeble, "That bastard could have gotten you killed, I'm raising Hell whether you like it or not!"

Seppuku was sitting at his desk putting bullets back into his rifle, he always made sure to have it fully loaded for next time. He had gotten all of the blood out of his clothes, except for his gloves-therefore for once he was exposing his bare hands.

Earl then kicked open the door, the locks hadn't stopped him from entering his office at all. Earl had an enraged look on his face, Chiya was hanging onto him still, now laying on the floor as she was being dragged.

"Seppuku, you bastard!"

Seppuku looked up at Earl with an angry look, Chiya was shaking her head constantly, still tugging on his arm while panicking.

"What is it, mechanic?"

Earl forcibly whipped his hand away from Chiya, leaving her on the floor behind him, "You know damn well why I'm pissed; once again you endangered Chiya's life by taking her into one of your stupid pointless missions!"

Seppuku slammed both fists down on his desk, "Chiya!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't say a word, he figured it out on his own!"

Seppuku growled at her furiously, crumpling up random papers he could find on his desk enraged. Chiya got up on her feet and hid behind Earl in fear, Seppuku was growling loudly as he crumpled and tore up several papers. Earl now realized that Chiya wasn't over exaggerating, he was indeed becoming mad.

"Calm the Hell down, it's all over the news, of course I found out."

Seppuku then crossed his arms at him, "I'm going to destroy that TV of yours!"

Chiya began to shake her hands frantically at the two, "Alright, let's calm down, we don't want another big fig-"

"Dammit Seppuku, quite frankly I don't give a crap about the many prisoners you killed, I'm just sick of you putting a sweet innocent young woman in these situations!"

"She volunteered for this! I can do whatever the Hell I want with her!"

Chiya grunted without anything to say, both the points they were making seemed unfair to her, therefore she could only pick a neutral side in this argument.

Earl pointed angrily at Seppuku with narrowed eyes, "If you get her killed in one of these missions, I'm going to personally devote my life to making your life a living Hell, starting with the destruction of the Red Dove!"

Chiya gasped at his threat, realizing that this had to stop right here, "Shu-ut u-up!" she screamed loudly, both Earl and Seppuku were holding their ears in discomfort, Chiya had succeeded in quieting them up however, "Earl, it's my life, and I'll go with Seppuku if I wish."

"What? But he-"

"Seppuku, no more of these random missions, I'm not _hunting_ with you at night, I'm not going back to any prison, just stop trying to get me killed," Seppuku silently hummed at her, contemplating if she were on to something, "Now, I think if we can just mutually agree on something here, we can all get through this without any further pro-"

Suddenly Jody Summer kicked open Seppuku's door, startling both Earl and Chiya, but not Seppuku.

"Lieutenant!" she yelled furiously.

Jody Summer was the self-proclaimed commander of the Galactic Space Federation and winner of the last annual Grand Prix. She wore a red and pink suit and had long brown hair, this was also the suit she wore while racing.

"What the Hell is wrong with you!?" she yelled towards Seppuku.

Chiya's eye was twitching at the sudden appearance of Jody Summer, she just invited herself to their base.

"Well. we were just having a pleasant discussion before you brutishly charged in," said Seppuku.

"Thirteen dead bodies, blood everywhere, limbs missing, and now Michael Chain's on the streets again-what the Hell were you doing!?"

Chiya gasped at the mentioning of Michael Chain escaping, _So he did escape, looks like we'll be heading to Mysteria then…_ she thought angrily.

"Well of course I slaughtered them all, they were raping Chiya."

Jody, Earl, and Chiya all gasped at this, Earl was the one who appeared most amazed at this, nearly falling over when he heard this.

"You were getting raped!? What the H-"

"I wasn't getting raped! They only managed to get one of my boots off before you came, though," she dipped her head down shamefully, "They were grabbing my butt alot…"

Earl and Jody both growled angrily at Seppuku, he appeared untouched by her dark story however.

"What? Are you implying that I should've let them continue work on Chiya while I waited for the officers to come?" Jody grunted at him, unsure of how to answer this, Seppuku then smirked at her, "It's not surprising to me that you're mad, but I'm technically still the hero here for saving her, so are you going to try locking me up?"

Except he saved me before he killed everyone…

she challenged in her mind.

Jody growled at him angrily with a clenched fist, but then got a smile on her face, finding an equally painful punishment, "No, I'm going to contain you."

Chiya and Earl both looked at her confused, Earl was secretly supporting Jody in her desire to punish Seppuku, especially now that he learned about Chiya getting slightly violated.

"Containment?"

Jody chuckled at him, "I still haven't spent the prize money from last year, therefore here is what will happen," Seppuku gritted his teeth angrily at her, "Since you have two loyal companions that can go to the market for you, you are to stay inside of this base for two weeks, if you are spotted outside of this base a single time; then I pay the F-Zero committee to permanently remove you from the Grand Prix, I demolish this base, and kick you out of Mute City."

Earl grinned at this punishment, he found this more than fair. Seppuku beat his hands on his desk loudly, "Unacceptable! Who the Hell do you think you are Summer!?"

"The Law, and I win as always."

She then turned around and began walking down the hallway, Seppuku was making constant grunting sounds as he held his clenched fists over his desk angrily. Earl closed the door and looked back at Seppuku alongside Chiya, he could tell that Seppuku was about to explode.

"Flower! This is your damn fault!"

She shook her head in amazement at his accusation, "_My_ fault!? You provoked Michael Chain; not to mention, you ditched me!"

"If you were a man or some ugly woman, you wouldn't have lured all those prisoners to you, let's face it, you're a diamond with legs."

"They would have chased me no ma- wait, a diamond? You really think I'm that attractive?"

"Just get out of my office, both of you, maybe I'll cool down in the morning."

Chiya and Earl both nodded, walking out the door together. Seppuku waited until the door closed before he slammed his head down angrily, his fedora falling straight off his head on impact.

Chiya and Earl silently went down the hallway after such a fired up conversation, Earl was still prepared to go to bed, he was content with Jody's decision to contain Seppuku. He walked back into his room and approached his bed, before he realized that Chiya followed him into his room.

"Oh, alright then," he said while crossing his arms.

"I'll let you get to bed in a minute, I was just wondering if," she looked away from him for a moment, then looked back at him with a slight smile, "I was wondering if we could watch a movie again, just less frightening this time."

Earl widened his eyes at the proposal, "W- with Seppuku right?"

Chiya moved her eyes away from him and shrugged, "M-maybe," she could then tell that he was becoming uncomfortable at the proposal, "I mean, just as friends I thought we could hang out."

Earl dipped his head down and rubbed it, "I don't know Chiya, I just fear that things could get awkward quickly…"

Chiya widened her eyes at him, "No! I wasn't proposing that-" she then lowered her eyebrows unable to finish her sentence.

Earl felt bad for shooting her down like this, he simply feared that things could go a different direction if they watched a movie together-as it was a good setting for romance. At this point Chiya had a sad look on her face, immediately leaving him to believe that she was actually just wanting to hangout with a friend.

"Chiya, the gang war is over and you can roam Mute City as you wish, why not go out and find some friends? I'm positive that someone like you would fit in with other girls easily," he said with a grin.

Chiya sneered at him, "I hate female friends, only men."

Earl grunted at her nervously, "Wait, you're not a lesbian, are you?"

Chiya took a step back with an appalled look, "No!"

Earl smirked at the ground, "Alright, alright, not that I would have a problem with that or anything…"

The room then had an awkward silence, Chiya and Earl continued to look at each other none-the-less. She still had a look of determination, she had no plans of getting anymore friends however. Earl continuously looked away from Chiya, hoping that she would either leave or break the silence. She then lowered her eyebrows again and clenched her fists, a desperate look on her face.

"Fine, Seppuku can come too, just please reconsider the movie, it seemed like you two were having a lot of fun before I came and-"

"A-ah, now I see," he said with a grin on his face, Chiya puckered her lips wondering what he was suspecting, "You felt really left out that one night, didn't you?"

She stomped her foot down roughly, "Damn right I did! You two sounded like you were going to have a blast, with your snacks, beer, movie, excitement!" Earl somewhat gasped at her quick and loud response, "I like to have fun! You two were treating me like a baby that couldn't handle a simple movie!"

Earl nodded at her passionately, "Alright, I apologize for making you feel left out, but that was more a guys night-you're not exactly a guy."

"I have guyish' traits, I would even; belch, if needed…"

"Well a good way to fit in for one, is not to throw out all the beer like you did, that's what Seppuku and me enjoys, so you'll have to respect that."

Chiya moaned at this request, "But beer is so horrid…"

"Secondly, I was very fine having you keep your legs over me the entire time, but when your shaking like an engine-not so much."

"Will you watch something with me alone if I let you drink beer and make it a war movie?"

Earl was caught off guard by this offer, she listed two of his favorite things in one offer. He dipped his head down and sighed, "I'll consider it as we get to the end of December…"

Chiya widened her eyes and smiled, "It's almost Christmas!"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, then closed his eyes with a chuckle, "That's right, Christmas-stay off the streets on that day, a lot of traffic."

She hugged herself happily, "Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, I always get great gifts for my family!" She then grunted at what she just said, "I mean, I _did_ get great gifts…"

"Are you getting anything for me?" he asked jokingly.

"You bet! You and Seppuku."

Earl chuckled at her, assuming that she was joking, he then got a serious look on his face at the mentioning of Seppuku. He exhaled and looked back up at her nervously, he was about to enter one more touchy subject.

"Chiya, I need to know whether I should hold a grudge over Seppuku or not, so…" She immediately got a frightened look on her face, he gave her a serious stare, "Did you get raped?"

She groaned slightly at the question, but immediately responded by shaking her head negatively, "No, Seppuku came back just in time, all they did was touch me, they didn't come close to stealing my virginity-that's the honest truth."

Earl exhaled in relief, "Thank God…"

She then had a quivering stare, her eyes were locked at the floor as she remembered the slaughtering that followed the incident, "When Seppuku found me on the floor; he went mad," Earl widened his eyes at her, Chiya was truly the only one who saw every moment of the slaughtering, "He just gave me his rifle and pulled out his sword, he then began destroying every single one of them with superhuman speed…"

"Superhuman?"

"There were limbs everywhere Earl; fingers, arms, everything-he became some kind of enraged monster…"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Limbs-no one should ever have to see that, only soldiers…"

Chiya held her face as if she were crying-only Chiya never cried, she was very good at holding tears in, "The images won't leave my head, the fact that I wished for my violators to get away from him-proves just how awful it truly was."

Earl grabbed her and began walking her to his door, "Wait until tomorrow, things will get better-it's perfectly normal if you have nightmares about any of the two things that you went through today."

She exhaled and looked back at him slightly, "Okay…"

Earl took one last look at Chiya as he slowly closed the door, "I'll, _consider_ the movie…"

She smiled and departed into her room, once again locking the door behind her. Earl stared at the door now realizing why she was locking everything, she was just trying to appear strong, when in all actuality she was fairly scarred. Earl closed the door preparing for bed himself, he had a feeling that he would need to calm her down, for the sake of friendship and making her a good F-Zero racer.

To be continued…


	10. Lap 9

_Sick of the dark chapters I've been writing? WELL. Here's the most heartwarming piece of work I ever wrote XD. (Chapter done in Earl's perspective.)_

==Lap 9=

"I need a box of twelve-by-ninety-nine rifle rounds, a new general purpose battery pack, and a set of printing paper," said Seppuku.

Earl nodded at him affirmatively, the day had passed and Seppuku determined that he would use Earl and Chiya to run his errands while he's under house arrest for two weeks. Chiya was absent from the team meeting, leaving Seppuku angry-Earl was becoming overly concerned for her, she hadn't come out of her room even to eat all day, Earl hadn't seen her since she left for her room the following night. The sun was already setting, meaning she almost spent the entire day in her room.

"Did you get that?" asked Seppuku.

Earl glanced at him, "Oh, yeah I heard, I can get all of that by tonight."

"Good, if the total amounts over two-hundred credits, then just leave the ammunition, apparently I won't be needing it for a few weeks…" Earl gave him a thumbs up and turned around towards the door, "Bendek, tell Flower that I'll dock her pay if she misses another meeting."

Earl raised an eyebrow at him, "What pay? We don't even get minimum wage anymore."

"Watch i-it…" growled Seppuku.

Earl then held his chin before leaving the office, "Say, speaking of Chiya, have you seen her at all today?"

Seppuku nodded at him, "Once, she was hogging the bathroom for ten minutes, then slowly left back for her room." Earl looked up trying to think what she could be doing in her room all day, "Go check on her."

Earl nodded and turned back towards the door, "I was probably gonna' do that anyways."

He then left Seppuku's office and looked at her door, he could tell that the lights were off in her room as there was no light under the door. _Obviously sleeping, but who can sleep for nearly twenty-four hours?_ he thought as he walked towards the door. He was contemplating whether he should go to the kitchen and get her something, as she apparently hadn't gotten up to even eat or drink; his first guess was that she was under post-trauma depression-refusing to leave her room. Earl put his ear against her door, but could hear absolutely nothing, he was almost left wondering if she was even in the base-perhaps she had left into town with the _Purring Kitten_.

Earl calmly knocked on her door, "Chiya? Are you okay?"

He could hear her slightly groan moments after asking, "Go away Earl, I don't want you to see me like this…" she said in a very faint tone.

Earl gritted his teeth nervously, "Are you decent right now?"

She groaned again, "Leave me be, I shouldn't be seen like this…"

Earl felt rude for invading her privacy, but decided to open the door despite her request. Her room was completely dark, Earl then turned on the light switch, revealing Chiya in her bed with Mauser. She had her eyes closed and teeth gritted, growling softly at him as he entered her room without against her wish.

"Please Earl, I'm too sick to be seen…"

Earl nodded his hand understandingly, "Ah, I should've figured this was the problem."

Mauser was sitting on her lap as she lay tucked in her bed, for reasons unknown she still had her stock hat on. She had a look of discontent, but couldn't build up the strength to lecture Earl.

"I just want to lay here today, it's all I can do..." Earl then walked out of her room quickly, Chiya opened her eyes and lowered her eyebrows angrily, "Okay then, leave the lights on you ass…"

She was preparing to get up and turn the lights back off, but found that this would be very energy consuming. Her stomach hurt every time she tried moving up, making this extra difficult.

"Mauser sweetie, you need to get off of me…"

The cat simply stared at her, momentarily curling up into a ball and sleeping on her again. She growled angrily as she threw her head back onto her pillow, she wiped her forehead as she was very hot.

Earl came back in moments later carrying a silver case with a medical symbol on it, Chiya opened her eyes again excitedly, she wasn't surprised that Earl would try and solve the problem as always.

"I'm no doctor, but I have this kit that should be able to help you."

She slightly nodded her head as she began to groan again, "I'm sorry you have to see me like this, these are the dreaded days where I'm _not_ so pretty…"

Earl silently chuckled at her while pulling out a tubular device, "Nonsense, I'd find you beautiful even if you had vomit all over your blanket."

Chiya slightly smiled at him, but the warm moment was suddenly crushed at the sight of a fairly large syringe, "Wh- what are you doing?"

Earl screwed the syringe onto the tubular device, connecting it to a small device, "Just taking a blood sample, the device will tell me what to treat you with after scanning your blood for bacteria."

Chiya hid her arms under her blanket, "No way, getting a shot is one thing," she then coughed violently, sniffing afterwards with hardly opened eyes, "But getting my blood drawn is a whole different ballgame…"

"You've been hit by bullets before, how can you be afraid of a needle?"

Chiya turned her head away from him, "It's fine, I can just rest this off…"

Earl carefully leaned towards her with the needle while she was looking away from him, her elbow was still visible.

"What's that on your bookshelf over there?" asked Earl as he got closer to her.

Chiya opened her eyes and looked at the bookshelf on the other side of her bed, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, "I don't see anyt-" she then jolted her head up in agony at the pinch of the needle, "You bastard!" she said with a stuttering voice.

"I'm a bastard for helping you, are you delusional too?"

Chiya remained silent and let him draw her blood, Earl momentarily took it back out and looked at the device. Mere seconds later the device began to ring, he began to read the device carefully.

"Influenza."

Chiya groaned once more, putting her hand on her forehead, "What does that mean?"

"The flu."

She put her head back and began to whimper, "I hate the flu…"

Earl grinned at her, "Don't worry, me and Sep- eh, well I'll take care of you."

Earl then pulled out another syringe, this one slightly longer, there was a tube connected to it with a cream colored fluid inside of it. Chiya turned her head at him, then widened her eyes at the syringe.

"Don't you dare, just let me heal naturally…"

Earl smiled at her with his eyebrows lowered, "You'll start to feel much better if you ju-"

"No, I don't want another shot…" she muttered faintly, beginning to violently cough again.

Earl narrowed his eyes at her, this time she was hiding her arm from him perfectly. He then gasped loudly and pointed at her face, "Chiya! There's blood dripping down your face!"

She widened her eyes and rubbed her hand over her face, finding no blood anywhere, "Where do-" Earl tricked her again, quickly grabbing the fat part of her arm and injecting her.

Her eyes were quivering at him angrily, but allowed him to continue now that it was in, "Thanks…"

Earl took the needle out and threw it in a garbage bin she had near her bed, "You'll thank me later, I'm about to head up to the Upper-"

Seppuku then kicked open the door and walked in, "I see you took the first aid kit out of the medicine cabinet, what's Chiya sick w-"

Chiya and Earl were both staring at him fearfully, after several months of success, Seppuku had finally caught her red handed.

"A feline!" he yelled grabbing his rifle.

"No!" Earl shouted getting in front of Chiya's feet, blocking the cat from view.

"Stand aside, I need to blow that spawn of Satan out of existence!"

"It's Chiya's cat, she's had it for months now, you can't just kill it!"

Chiya grabbed Mauser and hid him under her arms, she was too sick to sit up however. Seppuku was grinding his teeth angrily at the two, he clearly wasn't a cat person.

"This never got my permission…" growled Seppuku.

"Of course not, you probably would've used the cat as target practice if we told you right away," argued Earl. Seppuku got angrier at his argument, Earl was shaking his head negatively, "Chiya loves Mauser, you can't do this!"

Seppuku hesitantly put his rifle onto his back, killing the cat was now out of the equation since Chiya truly loved her pet. He pushed Earl aside from Chiya's bed and leaned over the sick Chiya.

"I want that fleabag out of here, back onto the streets…"

Chiya coughed as she hid Mauser under her blankets, "No, I love him, he keeps me happy…"

Earl was biting his fingers franticly, this was exactly why he condemned Chiya bringing Mauser home in the first place; he knew Seppuku would react like this.

"I don't care, it's been proven that ninety percent of cats host thousands of fleas…"

Earl chuckled sarcastically at him, "Where did you get those statistics?"

Seppuku didn't answer him, merely looking back at Chiya angrily again, "That cat has to be out of here by tomorrow."

Chiya began to whimper sadly as she held Mauser more tightly, "He's done nothing wrong, he's been here for months and you didn't even see him…"

Earl nodded in agreement, "That's true, if he were a problem, you would've noticed by now."

Seppuku looked at the two back and forth, Earl appeared fired up, Chiya just had a look of illness on her.

"I'm not getting rid of Mauser…"

Seppuku growled at the two, finally stomping his foot down, "He stays in this room, nowhere else-or I'll deal with him myself."

Earl had a look of discontent, but knew that this was as far as they could get with Seppuku. Chiya still had a sickly look on her face, momentarily allowing Mauser back onto her lap. Seppuku and Mauser looked into each others eyes, Seppuku lowering his eyebrows at the cat.

"Furry bastard."

"Seppuku, I don't mean to offend, but I wanted to speak with Earl alone for now…"

Seppuku took offense to this, being kicked out of a room in his own base by a sick young woman, "Fine! I'll leave so you can spread your Mono to Bendek!"

Earl widened his eyes and somewhat began to turn red at this, Chiya shook her head slightly in confusion, "What's Mono?"

Seppuku loudly slammed the door shut, leaving Chiya and Earl again. He then rubbed his forehead and sat by the side of her bed, "Anyways…"

"I'm so hot right now, I can't believe this…"

Earl stood back up and went through her drawers, Chiya was a little disturbed that he was going through her clothes, but wasn't feeling well enough to argue. He pulled out some thin bright blue pajamas and threw them on her bed.

"You should wear this instead, that turtleneck shirt you always wear is probably keeping you fairly hot."

Chiya opened her eyes and looked down at the pajamas, "Can you help me get this on then?"

Earl practically fell back in amazement at the request, his eyebrow was twitching along with his mouth, "D- don't be sil- I would, but I really must be getting to the Upper City!"

She turned her head away from him, getting on her side as she got back into a sleeping position, "Turn off the lights as you leave, please…"

Earl nodded, "Of course, I'll bring back something healthy for you to drink."

She slightly nodded at him while not actually looking at him, "If it's beer, I'll kill you…"

Earl began to laugh as he walked out of her room, shutting the door behind him. Chiya let out a smile as soon as he left her room, "He's a real ange-" she then opened her eyes angrily, realizing that he had forgotten to turn off the lights, "Are you kidding me?"

About an hour later, Earl had gotten the items that Seppuku instructed him to get and put them in the back of his vehicle. Earl did not have an F-Zero machine, originally the _Purring Kitten_ was a work in progress for him, but it was ultimately decided that Chiya would put it to better use, as she actually wants to become a racer. Earl was in the parking lot of the Mute City mall, leaning against his vehicle looking up at the dark sky. He was in a deep thought of what life in the organization would be like if Chiya were to be accepted by the F-Zero committee as an official F-Zero racer. The main fear he had, was that he would need to work twice as hard, now having to maintain both the _Red Dove_ and _Purring Kitten_ in between races of the annual Grand Prix.

"Those repairs are going to run us dry with cash…" he muttered aloud.

He also was fearing what the next Grand Prix would have in store for them, Michael Chain was on the loose again, Blood Falcon likely held a grudge against Seppuku, Samurai Goroh was an enemy in Chiya's eyes, and Antonio Guster was angry at Seppuku for breaking an F-Zero alliance near the end of the last annual Grand Prix. He fully supported Chiya's desire to become an F-Zero racer, but he also feared whether she could handle it or not; her permanent alliance with Seppuku would invite all of his enemies to attack her as well on the track-which would make for a difficult first Grand Prix.

Earl exhaled then got back in his vehicle, "I could go for some coffee…"

A few minutes later, Earl was in Bart's café and was speaking with him about general stuff going on in his life. Earl viewed Bart Lemming as a friend, but just like Chiya, he also viewed him as a wise man who always had answers or proposals.

"-so now both Brock Blaskovitz and Michael Chain are out in the world again, it's like our efforts went to waste…"

Bart shook his head negatively, "You still destroyed their gangs, meaning they no longer present a problem to the world."

"Blaskovitz's survival was incredibly shocking to all of us, I just don't know how you survive a shot to the head and a fall from a building…"

Bart rubbed his chin with a smirk, "You mentioned that he has a red eye now?"

"Yes."

"-and pale skin?"

Earl nodded affirmatively at this, "He wants Chiya dead, just Chiya…"

"A clone of Brock?" Bart simply proposed.

Earl widened his eyes and slapped his hands down on the table, "Of course! That must be it, he saw where our base was during the final battle, if it were the real Brock Blaskovitz, he would have just come to our base."

Bart nodded with a grin, "So if he _is_ a clone of the original, then the next question is simple-who created him?"

Earl gritted his teeth trying to think, "Cloning is illegal everywhere on Earth, including many other planets for that matter."

"Therefore the person would have to be someone with no regards for the law."

The two continued to think about this for a few moments, both Earl and Bart had one specific person in their minds that could have done it, but it seemed so unlikely to be him.

Bart shook his head negatively, "I'll just say what we're both thinking, this seems like something Black Shadow would do."

Earl hummed doubtfully at this, "It's a good thought, but I don't see why Black Shadow would make a clone who wants to kill Chiya, he shouldn't want anything from her."

Bart nodded affirmatively, "Maybe we're off target, we don't know yet that he's a clone anyways."

"True, but it seems almost obvious that it's what happened," the two continued to think for a few moments, but was now surrounded with the possibility that he wasn't a clone. Earl snapped his fingers and shrugged, "Oh well, I'll bring the clone idea up to Seppuku and see what he thinks."

"Very good, where is Ms. Flower anyways?"

Earl sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I forgot about her…" Earl then moved his eyes up at Bart, "She's in bed with Influenza."

Bart tapped his finger down on the counter constantly, "Earl, why aren't you helping her? You're such a ladies man, I figure you of all people would be practically hand feeding the sick girl."

Earl chuckled at him, "Well I told her I'd get her something healthy to drink."

Bart looked under the counter for a container, "I could fill up a container with Green Tea I suppose…"

"Na-ah, I'm content spending what little money I have left to get her something at a fast food place."

Bart looked back up at him with a raised eyebrow, "How much money do you have?"

Earl sighed, "Thirteen credits…"

Bart cringed at his response, "Ouch, that's no way to live, so I'll help you."

He then pulled out his wallet and began taking out several credits, Earl sighed at the fact that he was about to accept a handout like some kind of bum.

"I'm only going to accept your donation _this _time, I'm no freeloader."

Bart chuckled at him, handing him a large pile of credits. Earl was immediately shocked at how much he handed him, he was given ten-thousand.

"Don't gamble it away."

Earl smiled and put the money in his wallet, "Why am I surprised that you can throw away so much money, you're the richest person on Earth if not the universe."

Bart moved his hand across his mouth like a zipper, "Remember, keep my little secret between you and me…"

Earl grinned and gave him the Falcon salute, "Will do."

He then stepped away from the counter and walked towards the door, "-and Earl," he turned around towards Bart while holding the door, "Has Chiya been evaluated by the F-Zero committee yet?"

Earl then let go of the door and flailed his hands angrily, "Well, the annual Grand Prix is next month, and Seppuku is now under house arrest for two weeks, I'm almost fearing that I'll have to bring her myself at this point."

Bart chuckled at him, "Let me guess, Jody Summer was the one who contained him?"

Earl nodded affirmatively, "I love what she did, but she's kind of indirectly hurting Chiya and me."

"I'll give Jody a call asking for a day where he can bring her to the committee, but this is a huge favor I'm doing, so make sure Seppuku brings her on the established date."

Earl grinned at him, "Thanks, I owe you Bart! -and about twenty loan sharks back in Korea…"

A few minutes later Earl was in the drive through of a fast food restaurant, he decided that he would trust his gut and get something Chiya really enjoyed, rather than something healthy.

"Welcome to Pit Stop, may I take your order?" a young woman asked through the microphone.

Earl grinned at the speaker box, "No, but I'll take your phone number," he said flirtingly.

The girl began to laugh at his joke, he then looked back at the box after laughing as well, "I'll take a large cup of vanilla ice cream, minus the cherry."

He then proceeded to comb down his hair and straighten his brown leather coat.

"Anything else?"

"No-ope."

"Seven credits for the ice cream, please drive up to the window for payment."

Earl then moved up slowly, barely paying attention to the road as he drove up to the window. He had a cheesy smirk on his face as he approached the window, trying to score a date. A young black haired girl with a pony tail was leaning over the window.

"Hi-i…"

"Sup?" he said with his arms crossed.

"Seven credits for the ice cream, please."

Earl then handed her a wad of credits without even looking, just staring at her with an unrealistic grin, "Right here…"

She widened her eyes at the credits, "Uh, nine-thousand-nine-hundred and ninety-three will be your change?"

Earl broke his grin with widened eyes, "Oops!"

He grabbed the money out of her hands and gave her the correct amount, she then smiled at him, "Wow, you must make a lot of money!"

Earl slowly grinned at her while lowering his eyebrows, "Ye-eah…"

"Here's your receipt!" she said giving him the paper while blushing.

Earl nodded and glanced down at it-a phone number clearly visible at the bottom, "Alright, catch 'a later."

He then drove up to the last window to get the ice cream, but was faced with someone a little more disturbing to him. A very Korean looking young woman with brown hair was staring at him with quivering eyes, Earl stared back at her, easily identifying her from Korea-only not from central Korea, she had the looks of someone from the Manchurian part of Korea. A moment of awkward silence occurred, Earl was viewed as a terrorist in Manchuria for ordering his tank battalion to strike a Manchurian town during the Korean Civil War-she likely recognized him instantly as the _Armored Death Sentencer_.

"H- here's your ice cream…" she said silently.

Earl had his teeth gritted, he knew the only reason she didn't react to him, was simply because she could be fired for speaking negatively to a customer. Earl grabbed the ice cream out of her hands with trembling hands, he couldn't stop looking her in the eyes.

"I- I…" Earl was having a hard time speaking to her, he hadn't ever confronted a Manchurian since High School, he swallowed and looked back up at her, "Are you by chance from, Manchuria?"

She slowly nodded her head at him, she then pointed her finger towards him, "You're the Armored Death Sentencer…"

Earl gasped and shook his head constantly, "No! That was the past!" he yelled quickly hitting the accelerator.

Many of the workers in the fast food restaurant watched in amazement as he sped away so quickly, the Manchurian appeared beyond surprised to see him in person, staring in awe out of the window at his vehicle.

Several minutes later, Earl came walking down the hallway of the base with a bag full of Seppuku's things, and a large cup of vanilla ice cream in the other. He entered his room and dropped the bag on the floor, placing the ice cream near the lamp in his room. He immediately fell onto his bed holding his head with both hands, he was very distraught at what had just happened at the fast food restaurant. He slammed his fist down angrily at his waist, he never knew how hard it would be to face a Manchurian-the ones he made suffer by striking the tower down.

"It's not fair…" he muttered in frustration, he looked over at his military uniforms, "I shouldn't have been made a commander of a tank battalion, I was only twenty-three!" he yelled aloud.

He then walked up to his uniform with his battalion patch on the sleeve, _Angels of Korea_ imprinted around the image of a unified Korea and Manchuria. He narrowed his eyes angrily at the term, _Angels_.

"They were Angels, I was an Angel of Death…" he muttered clenching his fist, he was becoming angered by the image of Korea and Manchuria being a unified nation, as two centuries ago the dissolved nation known as China owned Manchuria, "Why couldn't they have won the war? All they wanted was to become annexed by the United Powers, but we just couldn't let them have it…"

He sighed and turned back towards the ice cream, remembering that while he could no longer protect Korea or his family-he had one person left he could still protect.

Earl reentered Chiya's room, she was sleeping until Earl abruptly turned on the lights, "I'm back."

She groaned and turned over looking at him, she managed to get in her blue pajamas while he was gone, "E-earl what the Hell…"

"Sorry for waking you, but you need to get _something_ in your body."

Chiya held her stomach and groaned again, "Why am I not cured yet…"

He grabbed both of her hands passionately and wrapped them around the cup of ice cream, "The injection won't heal you immediately, but it will get you back on your feet, tomorrow at the earliest."

Chiya opened her eyes as she realized that the beverage he got her was cold, "Wh- what is this?"

"Ice cream, I recall you like ice cream."

She slightly smiled and coughed onto the cup, "Good call, I thought you would get me something gross…"

"I also got a girl's number while getting you that."

She began to drink out of the cup, lowering her eyebrows angrily. Earl then looked around his coat for the receipt, but couldn't find it anywhere, "What did I-" he then remembered that he dropped a piece of paper while grasping the ice cream from the Manchurian girl-likely because he was shocked.

"Ah, never mind, I lost the number…"

Chiya set down the ice cream and wiped her lips, "What a shame."

Earl managed to shrug this inconvenience off, looking back down at Chiya, "Jody's going to give Seppuku one day to leave the base somewhere this or next week, that's when you'll be getting evaluated by the F-Zero committee."

Chiya groaned and turned her head away, "I don't want to think about F-Zero right now…"

Earl frowned at her, "Well don't give up on your dream just because your sick."

She shook her head negatively, "No way, I won that Auction race, which means I can do just as good in the Grand Prix…" she then coughed into her blanket.

Earl continued to sit next to her, wondering if his presence was bothering her. _She is sick after all, I'm sure she wants to get back to bed…_ he thought looking down at her, she had her eyes closed and was breathing heavily. She had consumed a large amount of the ice cream, but had set it aside for the time being. He nodded at her, assuming that she was about to fall asleep.

"I'll leave you be now," he said getting up.

She then held her hand up slightly, "Don't go…" he immediately stopped and looked down at her, her eyes were still closed however, "Not yet…"

Earl was surprised that she wanted him to keep her awake while so sick, as sleep was likely the one thing she could do to escape the horrid feeling.

"I want you to know by now, that you're the best friend I've ever had, and I'm going to find you the best Christmas present I can get…"

Earl was touched by her random compliment, he felt that a bond of steel had been established between the two at that very moment. He knew that their friendship was changed now, it wasn't like on Aeropolis where they managed to get so mad at each other, that they were at each others necks. He knew now that they would always be friends, and would stick together through the worst of situations.

Earl grinned at her as she fell asleep shortly after saying this, he quietly got up again and walked out the door-once again forgetting to turn off the lights…

To be continued…


	11. Lap 10

==Lap 10=

The following morning, Earl was sleeping silently in his bed; Seppuku was sleeping at his desk, as he did not have a room in his own base. Earl had stayed up fairly late watching TV, Seppuku can't leave the base to hunt for crime at night because of his containment-though Bart Lemming informed Earl that he would convince Jody to allow him one day to leave the base so Chiya could get evaluated by the F-Zero committee, it was still to be decided what day this would be however, or even if Jody would allow Seppuku a mere day to leave. Earl managed to calm down after encountering the young Manchurian girl at the fast food restaurant, as he had reminded himself that Chiya was one of the few people who understood that he was a changed man who regretted his decision to bring down the tower during the war.

Earl could smell something as he began to slowly wake up, something wasn't right.

"Is that bacon..?" he muttered slowly opening his eyes.

He then noticed that there was a plate of bacon and a frosted cookie that looked like Chiya Flower on his lap. He grunted in shock at this, it was breakfast in bed.

Seppuku moments later sniffed as well over his desk, then opened his eyes slowly, "Is there a burning pig in here?" he asked aloud, he then looked down at his desk, also finding a plate of bacon and a frosted cookie that looked like Chiya, "Bacon?"

About a minute later, both Earl and Seppuku exited their rooms, both entering the main hallway at the same time. Chiya was happily mopping the floor and walls of the hallway, she hadn't noticed that either of the two entered the hallway. Earl appeared overly shocked at the suddenly energetic Chiya, spinning around the hallway gleefully with a mop in her hands; Seppuku was giving her a stern look as usual. The two continued to stare at her as she began to spray the wall next to the bathroom, then began wiping it with a rag.

"Flower, what are you doing?" asked Seppuku.

Chiya turned her head towards Seppuku with a surprised look, then noticed that Earl was in the hallway as well, "Oh, hi-i!" she said waving at Seppuku. He pointed at her mop with a very straight finger, "I'm cleaning up this bloody place, I already got the lobby and garage all clean."

Earl chuckled at her, "There's no way you cleaned up the garage, that place is a mess."

"It's clean, you're welcome."

Seppuku quickly held up the Chiya shaped cookie she made for the two, "What's this?"

Earl smirked at the cookie, Chiya happily smiled at Seppuku, "I call it a Chiya Snack, do you like it?" Seppuku then snapped the head off of the cookie angrily, Chiya gasped and took a step back nervously, "I guess you're not a cookie person…"

"How the Hell are you so energetic suddenly? A few hours ago you were practically dying in your bed!" Earl said flailing his hands.

Chiya smiled at him, "Yes, and now that I'm better, I realize that I could be doing so much more with my life when I'm not sick," she bowed to Earl with her hands together, "Thank you for being there for me last night, I much enjoyed the ice cream."

"Ice cream!?" yelled Seppuku.

Earl widened his eyes fearfully at Seppuku, "What? What's wrong?"

"She brings a fleabag into my base, and you reward her with ice cream!?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes at Seppuku, "He wasn't rewarding me, he was being a friend."

Seppuku sarcastically chuckled at her, "Well, whatever…"

Chiya crossed her arms together with a smirk, "How was the breakfast I prepared for you two?"

"Bacon was fantastic, cookie was very creative," Earl reviewed.

"Bacon was undercooked, cookie was creepy," Seppuku reviewed.

Earl immediately stomped his foot down at Seppuku's critic, "Shut up, the bacon was just fine."

"The cookie ruined it, I can't look at all of that frosting while eating bacon, she should have just made something else to go with it."

Earl glanced over at Chiya to see if she was hurt by his review, but she seemed for the most part untouched. She shrugged at Seppuku with a grin on her face, her eyes closed as well.

"Well that's fair, I usually don't cook anyways, so naturally I wouldn't know how to do it right."

Seppuku nodded at her in approval, "Accepting failure with honor only makes you a stronger person."

"But, she didn't fai-" Earl challenged.

"Whatever, it's fine Earl," Chiya said waving her hand at him.

Earl nodded at her, then looked back at Seppuku, "Lieutenant, me and Bart Lemming came up with a few thoughts about Brock Blaskovitz, I wanted to hear what you think."

Seppuku hummed while rubbing his chin, intrigued at this, "Very well, let's discuss this in my office, will you be joining us _this_ time Chiya?"

She shook her head negatively, "I'm actually going to head out to Red Canyon for a bit, I wanted to learn the controls of our ship."

Seppuku revealed a look of discontent at her decision, but ultimately nodded at her, "Fine, come on Bendek," he said walking back into his office.

Chiya watched him enter his office again, she then dropped the mop on the floor and walked past Earl towards the garage. Chiya had come out of her illness with immense energy, she was once again excited to get back to F-Zero related matters, and was planning on continuing her Seoli Idong lessons with Earl at some point. She had quickly got over the events that occurred at the prison two days ago, now understanding that Seppuku can get overly violent, and that she was only slightly abused-only her buttocks getting grabbed.

A few minutes later, Chiya was happily driving the _Purring Kitten_ down the Upper City, the streets were as busy as ever compared to the Lower City. She could see the Maximum Security Detention Center from across the body of water connected to Mute City, it appeared closed off to the public for the time being and had several police vehicles surrounding the building. She lost her smile as she continued to look at the prison, looking at the road at the same time; she was frustrated that Seppuku was the reason Michael Chain escaped from prison. It was obvious that Michael Chain was truly capable of starting a riot at anytime, but Seppuku had provoked him to start it early, as he taunted the man behind the glass. No one seemed to know but her that he was the real reason the riot started, she would never tell anyone about this however, as this could put Seppuku in even hotter water with the Federation. Michael Chain stated that he would acquire the _Wild Boar_ somehow if he got out of prison-she now had to wait and see if he would fulfill this plan.

"He said he wants to escape to my planet and reform the Bloody Chain there…"

She hit her fist angrily on the steering wheel, _If Seppuku makes us go to Mysteria, I'll be hunted by the police and military…_ she thought angrily.

Chiya's home planet; Mysteria, was a very isolated planet run by the military under an Authoritarian ruling, meaning they enforced their laws very strictly-limiting the freedom of the people. They were one of the few planets in the universe that didn't abide to the Galactic Space Federations rules-rather they argue and threaten them with war. This is why Chiya has a bounty on Mysteria, and not anywhere else, because Mysteria has its own laws and disregards the Federation.

Chiya sarcastically smirked as she looked far up the road, "A good plan I'll admit, if he makes it to Mysteria, then he's safe, Mysteria would never hand him over to the Federation…" she muttered aloud.

Chiya didn't have much of a choice however, the third race of the annual Grand Prix would bring them to Mist Flow; Mysteria's iconic track. She assumed that they would have to do what Antonio Guster did on Sand Ocean, hide themselves far out in the less populated areas of Mysteria until the race began. The rules of F-Zero prohibited government involvement during a race, so Mysteria couldn't simply go and detain her while she raced, otherwise Mysteria would be banned from F-Zero, and the planet heavily relied on its racetrack for income.

I wonder what became of my mom and sister after I left…

she thought sadly. The last time she had seen her mother, was when she helped Chiya stow away on a transport ship heading to Mute City at age seventeen, leaving Chiya to fend for herself in the Lower City of Mute City for six years-until Seppuku eventually found her. _I sure hope the military didn't execute them…_ Something Chiya was certain of, was that her mother must have been punished for helping her escape trial, her younger sister on the other hand had little do with her escape. It was still unknown to everyone-except Jody Summer, what Chiya did on her planet that landed her with a bounty, especially since she was only seventeen when she escaped.

Many minutes later, Chiya began ascending up the slopes of Red Canyon, Mute City clearly visible behind her. This was a rare occasion where Chiya had woken up in the morning, as she usually sleeps all the way through afternoon, she was in a mood where she wanted to make progress-and she especially wanted to repay Earl in some way for his services to her. She looked over at the cliffs of Red Canyon happily, she was always happy that she chose Mute City to live in because the area of Japan was incredible to her. Mute City had a body of water, was a metropolis, and had the infamous Red Canyon on the boundaries of the city; Chiya had yet to explore the other directions outside of Mute City-she could only imagine that it was a beautiful scenery full of grass and flowers. She glanced over at a red flower she had in a pot, she had Earl seal it onto the side of her cockpit after the gang war. The red flower was special to her because it had only three petals surrounding the bud, she always looked at each petal as a member of Seppuku's organization: Earl, Chiya, and Seppuku, the bud represented the organization. She had found this flower in Red Canyon on the day that Red Star attacked the Lower City, the oddity of it all, was that it was in Red Canyon-where little plants could grow.

Chiya chuckled to herself as she began to drive along the cliffs of Red Canyon, _Earl will do all of that for me, yet he won't watch a damn movie with me for the fun of it…_ Chiya was trying not to let herself get to angry over this, because she knew that she shouldn't be jealous that Seppuku and Earl watched movies together occasionally; she knew that Earl enjoyed her presence more than Seppuku's. She glanced over to her right and looked back at Mute City, she was surprised to see that no ships were flying above the city-and no vehicles were leaving or entering either. She looked at the city nervously, finding this very unusual, _Don't tell me another Hell storm is rising as soon as I leave…_

The day Red Star launched a full scale invasion of the Lower City, Chiya had left for a sightseeing adventure in Red Canyon, while in Red Canyon she found that the people of Mute City were evacuating, along with several visible explosions and smoke. Getting back to base to help Earl and Seppuku fend off Red Star was very challenging due to the amount of traffic trying to leave the city.

She shook her head negatively, she knew nothing that bad could happen anymore, what made that day so tremendous, was that Red Star and the Bloody Chain both had about a thousand active members, meaning the streets were filled with gang violence. With the gang war over, the only enemy in plain sight would be the new Brock Blaskovitz.

"I wonder what Earl and Bart came up with…" she said tapping her fingers on her chin.

A few minutes later, she drove out of a valley, leading to a fairly concealed gorge hiding their ship. It was still perfectly still and appeared untouched, Chiya kept forgetting that this was _her_ ship-not necessarily Seppuku's, though he somewhat assumed control of the ship. She stopped the _Purring Kitten_ to the side of the ship and got out, yawning loudly as soon as she hit the ground. She looked around the gorge with a smile, the quietness and shade covering the area made for a perfect place to isolate herself if she were ever sad or upset.

"How did Seppuku find such a perfect place?" she asked beginning to walk towards the loading ramp.

Little did Chiya know, several men were beginning to gather along the cliffs as she entered the ship. They began to slide down the cliffs carefully, silently moving their way towards Chiya's ship.

About two minutes later, Chiya was laying on the couch in the living room, she felt as if she were inside a luxurious building, when in all actuality she was just in a ship. She got up moments later and looked at the kitchen, _I should bring food here…_ she thought looking at the refrigerator. The refrigerator came with several cans of beer, but Chiya had thrown the cans out of the ship before Earl or Seppuku could see it, as she was very anti-alcohol. Finally, she began walking towards the bridge of the ship, she knew how to fly a ship because of a required course she took in High School, but she hadn't actually flown a ship since she was sixteen-let alone a ship as massive as this. She sat down in a seat and looked at the controls, everything seemed fairly familiar to her-only some of the levers and buttons were much larger; the console also had many additional features-like a phone and sonar like device.

She continued examining the many parts of the ship, realizing that this would be easy to pilot; her only fear was flying through populated areas, like cities-so she would try and avoid going through places such as Mute City. It was mutually agreed by all three that Seppuku would be the pilot of the ship whenever he was present, as he was the most experienced at piloting of the three. Chiya smiled excitedly and started to bounce up on her seat slightly.

"I can't wait until we take our friends vacation! This is going to be so fu-"

She then started to break her smile as she looked out in front of her; there were several men beginning to surround the ship-some holding shotguns. Chiya gasped and nearly fell out of her seat, immediately grabbing her handgun and running to the living room. _Not good, not good…_ she thought as she ran towards the door of the ship. She slowly popped her head out the ramp of her ship, before realizing that she was completely surrounded. She held her hands up in the air surrendering and took a few steps down the ramp.

"What's going on!?" she panicked.

It was then that she spotted a Japanese battle flag bandana on one of the men, immediately revealing to her who she was being captured by-yet again.

"Samurai Goroh, where are you!?" she demanded.

Moments later, the large samurai came walking through the crowd of pirates with his sword unsheathed. He had a smirk on his face as he stepped in front of Chiya, momentarily looking up at her ship.

"That's a fine looking ship you have there…"

Chiya lowered her hands bravely, "I'm not letting you capture me this time Goroh!" She then aimed her handgun straight at him, several of the pirates aimed their shotguns at her in response, "Let me go, or one of us dies here!"

Goroh began to laugh at her, "Stupid girl, I've already proven that I can stop a bullet with my sword, I _did_ defeat Seppuku on my ship, didn't I?"

Chiya grunted at his remark, "I- I don't think so, you had an upper hand, yes; but you did not defeat the Lieutenant!"

Goroh chuckled at her, but surprised her by sheathing his katana back onto his waist, "Don't worry, we're friends now, remember?"

Speak for yourself…

she thought still aiming at him.

"Seppuku and me are still trying to work out a deal after months, guns for cash; if I killed you, we'd be sworn enemies again."

Chiya momentarily lowered her handgun, "What do you want with me?" she asked hostilely.

Goroh stepped back from the ramp and flailed his arms, "You're trespassing in Goroh's nation now! Our base camp is just over that hill!"

Chiya gasped and took a step back, "You live in Red Canyon!?"

"No, but we operate here the most when not in space, no one knows of the whereabouts of this camp," Chiya nodded understandingly, but still had an angry look on her face, "We'll let you keep resting your ship here, but if you reveal the whereabouts of our base camp to anyone, then we'll hunt: you, Seppuku, and the mechanic."

Chiya swallowed nervously, "That's fair."

Goroh then signaled for her to follow, "Come along."

"No way!"

Goroh smirked at her, "You already know about our camp, you as might as well see it while you're at it."

She shook her head defiantly, "Go to Hell!"

Goroh smiled at her, "You're a firecracker aren't you?" Chiya growled in response, Goroh then looked back at a group of pirates, "Grab her."

Three pirates then began to approach her, Chiya quickly backed up, but then planted her feet down and got in a Seoli Idong stance. One of the pirates leapt at her-but was easily knocked down, hitting his chin roughly against the loading ramp. The other two swarmed her quickly, but Chiya blocked both of them and kicked one in the chest, she wrapped her arm around the other one and tackled him down onto the ramp as well.

Chiya got up and patted her hands, _Oh my God! I just kicked their asses!_ she thought excitedly. She was trying to show little emotion at what she had just done, despite the fact that she was proud of herself.

"I'm not going with you."

Goroh raised an eyebrow at her, "So you're a Korean girl-I thought you came from Mysteria…"

Chiya smirked at him, "I do, I just have a good instructor is all."

Goroh sighed and clenched his fists, "I'll just have to do this myself then…"

Chiya stomped her foot down roughly again with her fists clenched, "I just beat your men with ease, you'll have to fight with all your strength to defeat me! I warn you, it won't be easy!"

Minutes later, Chiya was tied up and being carried into Goroh's camp. She had a very displeased look on her face, the fight with Goroh went badly; she was easily grabbed and tied up seconds into fighting Goroh.

"What do you want with me?" she asked angrily.

Goroh didn't respond, simply continuing to carry her towards an enormous tent that was set up. Chiya was amazed at the amount of tents in the gorge, it looked like a military boot camp, all the tents were lined up in rows-she assumed that Goroh's tent was the large one. She could then confirm this as she could see the _Fire Stingray_ to the side of the tent. Several of the pirates began to walk away from Goroh as they got closer to the tent, within seconds-only he and Chiya remained. Suddenly a familiar face came out of the large tent to greet the two; it was Goroh's second-in-command, usually just referred to as _Captain_.

"Hello again Ms. Flower," he said looking Chiya straight in the eyes.

Chiya growled at him with a sarcastic grin, "I'd love to talk, but I'm a little tied up right now," he said jokingly.

Goroh brought her into the tent, revealing a table in the middle with a candle already lit. He placed her in front of the table and began to untie her, _What does he want with me?_ she wondered nervously. She was now free, but decided that she was no longer in a position to run, as she could easily be shot at any time. Goroh walked over to the other side of the table and sat, slowly drinking from a glass of tea.

"Wh- what?" She then looked down, there was already a cup of tea for her, she lowered her eyebrows in frustration, "Not again…"

Just like the last time she was captured, Goroh simply sat and drank his tea for about two minutes without speaking. Chiya was being even more impatient with him as last time, "I have places to be, cut to the chase Fat Sammy."

Goroh's Captain began to laugh at her remark, finding the nickname fitting. Goroh looked up at her, "I'm not fat, I'm big boned, I've proven this to you already."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "Whatever, can I go?"

"Hold on, hold on…" he said waving his hand at her, she growled at him impatiently as he continued to drink his tea, he then set it back down, "You'll be happy to know that I'm going to let you go completely unharmed."

Chiya grinned at him, "Good."

"But I want to make an offer, an offer you can't possibly refuse."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him slowly, _What makes him think that we're buddies?_

"It's no secret to me, Seppuku's no longer raising his offer for my guns, rather he's lowering the offer; this is telling me that you're becoming poorer by the day."

Chiya grunted at him, then clenched her fist at him, "We'll get out of this situation soon enough!"

Goroh chuckled at her, "Face it, without the gang war to make money off of, your little organization has three months at most before it collapses," Chiya shook her head in denial at this, but remained silent, "I've heard of your heroic tale of stopping Brock Blaskovitz, and you beat me in that auction race, so I know you're capable of many things…"

"That's right," she said in a gloating tone.

Goroh finally tilted his sunglasses down, looking at her with his eyes, "Join us."

Chiya gasped and shook her head constantly, "The Hell I will! I'd sooner join…" she was trying to think of a group that would sound humiliating, but couldn't think of one.

"We can make you money, I can get you in the Grand Prix, and you'll always be protected by my men," he raised his sunglasses back up to his eyes, "I only ask that you drop the Korean crap, we're a Japanese only crew…"

Chiya shook her head negatively at him, "No, I value my friends more than your money, and Seppuku is all the protection I need."

"I'm stronger than Seppuku, not to mention a more experienced racer; join us, together we can win the Grand Prix and use the prize money to become an unstoppable pirate gang!" She gasped at his intentions, he had an incredibly large grin, "Not even the Federation will be able to stop us!"

Chiya launched herself up onto her feet angrily, "Perhaps you don't know me very well; I'm Chiya Flower, future F-Zero racer and-you know, _not_ a criminal?"

"You have a bounty on Mysteria, you're just as much of a criminal as I am."

Chiya became furious and knocked the cup of tea off of the table, "That doesn't concern you! I'm in hot water because of a family related matter! The government should have no say in it, you acrobatic fatass!"

Goroh continued to calmly look at her, she was now breathing angrily at him with her teeth clenched. He then shook his head negatively at her, "Leave, you're a waste of breath."

The Captain grabbed her arm and began pulling her away towards the entrance of the tent, she pointed back at him, "I don't care what Seppuku says! You're my worst enemy and I hate you!"

Goroh sighed at her, then returned to drinking his tea as Chiya left his sight.

A few minutes later, Chiya came running back to the ship, the pirates had let her go without a struggle. Her hatred for Samurai Goroh was now refreshed, she had every desire to combat him in the Grand Prix if she were accepted by the committee. She was panting as she ran non-stop, fearing that Goroh may have a change of heart and want her as a prisoner. _We'll be fine, we may be poor but we're not broke!_ she challenged in her head. She finally came to a stop after reaching the _Purring Kitten_, she wanted to get out of Red Canyon quickly; she felt that it would be wise to find a new place to put their ship, but would have to bring her proposal up with Seppuku. She leapt inside of the _Purring Kitten_ and held her face while shaking her head.

"I don't want the organization to collapse, those two are all I have…"

She exhaled and strapped herself in, closing the cockpit window. She continued to shake her head as she turned on the machine, _He was lying, we don't even need money for anything besides F-Zero repairs…_ Chiya knew that she was cheating in life, she should be out in the world alone, looking for someone to start a family with-and get an actual job; like her mother wanted her to. Chiya was the first person in their family tree that didn't live on Mysteria, it was foretold by her family that she would be the one who finally brings wealth and fortune into the Flower name.

Chiya later calmed down more, now going down the main highway leading straight into Mute City. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Goroh was likely trying to scare her into joining him; if she really needed to, she could just apply for a simply part-time job, this would easily give them enough money to keep going-she was still hoping that it wouldn't come to this however. Chiya gasped at the sight of something way up ahead, there were blockades set up and armored military vehicles stationed around the city.

"Something bad _did_ happen while I was away!" she panicked aloud.

She quickly sped up, once again preparing to get back to base with some huge situation on their hands. _Mute City must be under attack again, but by who!?_

She quickly came to a stop in front of the blockade, an officer holding his hand out at her telling her to remain still. _Oh God…_ she thought as he began to approach the _Purring Kitten_. She opened the cockpit and leaned over towards the approaching man.

"What's going on? Why can't I get in?"

The officer crossed his arms while looking at her, "Federation has ordered a complete lock down of Mute City for the day, we have officers searching door to door for Michael Chain, former gang leader of the notorious Bloody Chain-now a convict on the run."

Chiya flailed her arms angrily, "Well why can't I go in then? I clearly am not holding a giant muscular man in here!"

The officer narrowed his eyes and looked inside of her cockpit for a moment, "No, you do not."

Chiya sighed at him in frustration, "So I can't enter-wh-hy?"

"There are too many officers on the streets, Jody Summer has instructed that no one leaves or enters."

Chiya growled and face palmed, "So where am I suppose to go then?"

He then pointed towards Red Canyon, there was a large camp set up just short of the Canyon, "The Federation is directing all citizens to a temporary camp where we have food, drinks, and medicine prepared."

"This is insane!"

"Off you go, citizen."

Chiya growled in frustration, then turned her vehicle around, heading back for Red Canyon-only she wasn't heading towards the Federation camp. _I guess I'll be sleeping in the ship then…_

Chiya later found herself back in her starship, by now it was much brighter out-no longer morning. She took a seat in the bridge and pulled out her emergency signaling device, Seppuku had put the base's phone number on the back of it. She then realized something else that was troubling, if she were to get in trouble, she couldn't press this device to call Seppuku because he was under house arrest. She took the phone out of the ship's console and began to dial the number that was on the back of the device. _You better pick up Seppuku…_ she thought angrily as she dialed.

"-therefore, by making sure you keep Blood Falcon and Samurai Goroh from first place, you and Chiya should have a perfect shot at winning this year," said Earl.

Seppuku and Earl were still discussing in his office, they were now strategizing for the upcoming annual Grand Prix-assuming that Chiya would be an accepted racer by then.

Seppuku tapped his fingers while nodding, "Maybe, I'm thinking I'll try patching things up with Guster, I don't need him pestering us while we race."

"He seemed to like Chiya somewhat, maybe we can have her speak to him for you."

Seppuku chuckled, "Chiya would proba-"

Just then, the phone began to ring, leaving both Seppuku and Earl shocked.

"Who knows your phone number?" asked Earl.

Seppuku narrowed his eyes angrily at the phone, "The only person who has our number is Jody Summer, she has the nerve to call me after containing me?"

Earl shrugged at him, Seppuku then growled as he picked up the phone quickly, "Listen you ugly bat! After what you pulled, I'm surprised you have the nerve to even call me, we're not friends, so speak quickly and stop wasting my damn time!" he shouted into the phone.

Seppuku awaited for a response, putting the phone on speaker so Earl could hear. A whimpering sound could then be heard, "Wa- was my bacon really that bad?"

Seppuku and Earl both gasped at the sound of Chiya, "Flower? Where did you find my number?"

"On the back of the dev- wait, do you really think that I'm an ugly bat?" she asked fearfully.

Seppuku face palmed, "Where are you calling from?"

"The ship, Mute City is on lockdown and I'm now allowed to reenter."

"Let me guess, Jody Summer ordered this?"

"Y- ye- oh, that's who you thought I was…"

Earl slammed his hands down on Seppuku's desk, "Chiya, just stay calm, we'll call Jody and ask for he-"

"What's he saying?" asked Chiya.

Chiya could only hear Seppuku clearly, as he was the one with the phone. Seppuku growled at Earl, "He was saying, there's nothing we can do."

Chiya was twirling her hair around as she spoke, Seppuku chuckled, "You should see what Earl's doing with his hand right now Chiya, you'd be pissed at him."

Chiya sighed, "No, I'm pretty sure I've done that same thing behind your back before…" She looked down in a small drawer and found some maps of several planets, she widened her eyes as she found one of Earth.

"Just stay put in the ship until tomorrow, I'll have Bendek come up with some food first thing in the morning."

Chiya rubbed her chin as she looked at the region of Asia, she then nodded her head with a smirk, "Actually," she was looking at Mute City on the map, then looked at another part of Asia, "I'm taking a vacation, I'll be back on Christmas Day."

"Wha- a vacation?"

Chiya smiled as she prepared to hang up, "Yes, I'll return in five days, I promise I'll stay safe."

She could slightly hear Earl complaining in the background, but couldn't make out anything he was saying, Seppuku could then be heard arguing with him.

"Bendek doesn't want you to go, he thinks you'll-"

"Tell him that I'll miss him, but I need to do this."

"Are you su-"

"Farewell, Seppuku."

She then hung up on him and returned to the map with a devious grin, "I'll make sure this is a Christmas to remember…"

She then pointed at Mute City, slowly dragging her finger more to the west.

"Mute City, to-" she then stopped moving her finger as she had it right where she wanted it.

"New Pyongyang, Korea."

To be continued…


	12. Lap 11

==Lap 11=

Christmas in Mute City, five days had gone by with no word from Chiya, this left Earl frantic and Seppuku nervous that she may have died. Chiya had told them that she would be back from her _vacation_ on Christmas, Earl trusted that she would be true to her word and return today, but of course he had his doubts; if she didn't return by the end of the day, Seppuku would violate the containment and go out searching for her with Earl. The only problem with doing this is that she took the ship, not only this, but they had no idea where she went. A concern Seppuku had, was whether she took the ship and left them for good, but Earl continued to argue that she would never do this-she had proven her loyalty when she volunteered to continue working for Seppuku free of charge.

It was the afternoon and Earl had just finished repairing the _Red Dove_ to full condition: its boost power fully restored, dents buffed out, paint reapplied to damaged areas, and engine cleaned. He slowly walked down the hallway towards Seppuku's office, prepared to give him his report on the _Red Dove_'s status, he was shivering greatly as he walked.

"J- Jesus Christ it's cold…" he said while rubbing his shoulders.

Ironically, Mute City was experiencing one of the rare times where it got very cold-still nothing compared to other parts of the world however, but it was fitting for Christmas. It was cold enough that he could see his breath as he walked, Seppuku didn't have enough money to run any heat in the building, nor did he want to for that matter. Over the centuries, Japan had shifted more upward towards Siberia, so the temperature could get fairly cold in Mute City during winter, yet seeing snow was very rare.

Earl slowly opened the door to Seppuku's office and walked in while still shivering. Unlike Earl, Seppuku was calmly sitting in his seat handling the cold without any problems. Earl stepped in front of his desk with an angered look, it was the one day where Seppuku looked normal in his coat and scarf.

"The Red Dove is ready for a- action," he said while rubbing his hands together.

Seppuku smirked at him, "What's wrong? Can't handle the cold?"

"Damn right I can't, I chose Japan to run to because I knew the winter was simple down here in Mute City," he zipped up his brown leather coat and put his hands in his coat pocket, "If I liked the winter, I would've ran to North America."

Seppuku chuckled at him, "North America, what would you do there?"

Earl shrugged, "They have okay sports, not very content with the people there though."

Seppuku stood up with a sheet of paper and approached Earl, "Jody Summer's trying to pass a new law, she's sending the proposal right up to the Emperor."

Earl widened his eyes and grabbed the paper out of his hand, it was printed off of a news site. Earl lowered his eyebrows as he read the paper with a look of discontent, "This is aimed at you…"

"I realize that."

Earl growled angrily at the paper, "A curfew in the Lower City, but not the Upper City-that's a load of bull."

Seppuku sarcastically chuckled, "That's the Federation for you, and I know that she's trying to do this simply so I can't hunt for crime anymore."

Earl gasped at the mentioning of this, "Wait, but if you can't catch any criminals at all, then aren't we making absolutely no income!?"

"Yep, if this law passes, we're making nothing."

Earl grunted at the paper and began to crumple it up, "Damn the Federation! You can't put a curfew on any part of Mute City, it doesn't work!"

"Summer's just pissed at me, I'm actually thinking of calling her up and raising Hell…"

Earl gave a thumbs up, "Do it, right now, now she's pushing both of us-all three of us actually."

Seppuku nodded and grabbed his phone, putting it on speaker so Earl could hear the argument. He then dialed the Federation HQ with a very angry look, Earl joining in on his side provoked him to actually go through with this. Earl was tapping his foot impatiently as Seppuku waited for someone to pick up.

"This also means that I can't go on late night dates, so bring a convincing argument to her."

Seppuku chuckled, "Argument? I'm just going to yell at her."

"Galactic Space Federation Headquarters, John Tanaka speaking."

"Tanaka, get Summer on the phone right now, I have a major complaint for her…"

Tanaka didn't respond for a few moments, "I- is this Lieutenant Seppuku or Captain Falcon speaking?"

Seppuku slammed his fist down angrily on his desk, "Seppuku! I'm nothing like that stupid bird!"

Tanaka once again didn't respond, a beeping noise could be heard momentarily, followed by other strange sounds. Earl raised an eyebrow at Seppuku, before realizing that Tanaka was transferring the call.

"Galactic Space Federation Headquarters, Jody Summer spea-"

"What the Hell is this stupid curfew crap you're trying to pull Summer!?"

Jody sighed, instantly recognizing Seppuku's voice, "Yes, Happy Holidays to you too."

"You're killing my organization Summer, if you don't let me hunt for criminals, we'll be broke!"

Jody chuckled at him, "You run that risk when you start an illegal vigilante group, this law is going straight to the Emperor whether you like it or not-it's for the best."

Seppuku growled at her, "Then pay us for our services, we've been keeping the Lower City safe for a long time."

"Actually, you just blew things up and caused mayhem during the gang war, it was your sick minded girl who stopped Brock Blaskovitz, but the Japanese Military was who really ended the gang war."

"Jody, this is sick minded even for _you_, and I know this is aimed at me completely!"

"No, it'll keep criminals off the streets at night, therefore decreasing the crime rate of Mute City as a whole, if anything-you're an idiot for even wanting this law to fail."

"I hope you don't expect me to stay inside at night, because God knows I'm not going to follow this idiotic law…"

Jody chuckled at him, "Oh, well that's fine, with Michael Chain out of prison-you could assume the role of top dog after we throw you in."

"Jody I swear to G-"

"Have a Merry Christmas, Lieutenant Seppuku," she then hung up on him.

Seppuku slammed the phone down angrily, "Damn her!"

Earl kicked his foot on the ground, "Well that's great…"

Seppuku fell back into his chair and let out a long sigh, holding his forehead angrily. Earl shook his head negatively at the paper he had been reading, the organization was becoming harder to maintain by the day, _We have got to win this Grand Prix…_ he thought in frustration. Seppuku was shaking his head negatively as he looked up at the ceiling aimlessly.

"Whatever you do, don't tell Chiya about this, it would crush her little heart…" said Seppuku as he slowly looked back down at Earl, he appeared fearful of what Seppuku was about to say, "The way I see it; we either disband the organization and move on, or relocate to a new planet."

Earl sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, "I knew this day would come…"

"Unless things improve, but so far it doesn't look like that's going to happen."

Earl shook his head negatively, "Quite frankly I'm fine disbanding the whole thing, but once that happens-I'm officially left without a goal in life, no one to protect anymore," he clenched his fist as he looked down angrily, "I somehow doubt Chiya would make it very long out in the world alone."

Seppuku nodded in agreement, "She's too soft, though she's an adult-she acts like a teenager still."

Earl grinned at the remark, "Yeah, it's one of the things I like about her…" his mouth then began to twitch at the thought of Chiya being out of his life-no longer seeing the gleeful smile of hers, or the signature stock hat she always wore. Earl couldn't bear to fail her, though he didn't exactly save her life very much, he was one to guide her out of dangerous scenarios.

"I'll get a job and pay for all of us."

Seppuku appeared surprised at him, "Really? Because that would solve everything considering we don't need much money."

Earl nodded at him affirmatively, momentarily looking into his eyes, "I will do this, if…" Seppuku then looked at him angrily, not surprised that there was a catch, "-you keep Chiya safe, don't put her in very dangerous situations; do this, and I will work my ass off for the sake of your organization."

Seppuku nodded, not hesitating to accept the offer, "Very honorable, your desire to keep Chiya safe almost touches me…" he said holding out his hand.

Earl smirked and then shook hands with him, establishing that he would go find a part-time job in order to pay off the expenses of his organization. Earl still secretly had ten-thousand credits from Bart, and would be able to hold off on this for a short while. It was amazing to Earl how far in the dirt they had gotten, during the gang war they were wealthy and were practically throwing their money everywhere they went-especially Chiya.

"Hi-i!" yelled Chiya as she suddenly kicked open his door.

Earl and Seppuku both appeared surprised at Chiya's sudden return, both relieved as well. Chiya had an unusually happy look on her face as she walked in holding several things.

"Merry Christmas!" she said happily.

Earl was wide-eyed at her overly excited look, she wasn't exaggerating when she said Christmas was her favorite holiday.

"Uh, yeah, Merry Christmas, Chiya…"

Seppuku was a very non-religious person compared to Chiya and Earl, but decided that it would be rude to argue Christianity on their special holiday. Chiya began to set down a few bags and began to laugh to herself.

"Wow, is it frickin' cold out or what?"

Earl nodded at her, then shook his head slightly, "Where the Hell were you for so long?"

She smiled and raised an eyebrow at him, "Getting your Christmas present, duh…"

Earl stared at her in complete shock, he had assumed that she was joking about getting him a present the many times she brought Christmas up. She was now digging in her bag for something, momentarily pulling out a fedora. Seppuku immediately raised an eyebrow at the fedora, it had a blood-red band going around it.

"Christmas is about sharing with each other, and I'm so excited to finally get to exchange gifts again after six years!" she said walking towards Seppuku.

Seppuku gasped as she put the fedora in front of him, "Merry Christmas Seppuku, I bought another black- uh, oh, a black top hat, and simply bought a red band for it in a city called Changchun."

Earl widened his eyes at the mentioning of this town, "Ch- Changchun!?"

Chiya smiled at him and nodded, "Yes, which brings me to your gifts."

Seppuku was somewhat grinning at his hat, then looked at her angrily, "Gifts? Why does he get multiple gifts?"

"Because, I had to buy yours, I didn't have to pay for Earl's gifts."

Earl was still stunned that Chiya had entered Manchuria, let alone that she managed to locate it in the first place. Chiya then began to dig in her bag again with an even bigger smile, she was clearly excited to get on with Earl's gift. Moments later she pulled out a thin brown booklet with a sheet of paper sticking out of it. Chiya then slowly approached Earl happily and proudly.

"Merry Christmas, Earl."

She handed him the booklet, but what he was looking at left him stunned, he couldn't even find the correct words to respond with.

"Ha, she got you a book, that's harsh," said Seppuku.

Earl's hand began to tremble as he opened the book, revealing a renewed passport to Korea. His eyes were quivering as he read the legitimacy of the book, Chiya had went to New Pyongyang to pick up his passport-how she obtained it was beyond him.

"Chiya…" he muttered.

She was staring right at him with an excited smile, her bright teeth revealed as she waited for his response. He was left with his mouth opened, then looked at the paper that was inside of the passport. He widened his eyes as it was signed by the Korean government officially-it was an official statement acquitting him and his tank battalion of their crimes in the Korean Civil War, the Geneva Convention of 2091 backed up the argument that he was too young to be put in charge of soldiers, therefore a new law had been passed four years ago banning men under the age of thirty from becoming commanders. Earl was completely off the hook for his crimes.

Earl's eyes began to water slowly in disbelief, he then looked up at Chiya with the utmost respect for her, "I- I've- you went through this much troubl-" he shook his head in disbelief, unable to properly finish his sentence.

Chiya bowed to him, "It was no trouble Earl, I had to sit around the embassy for about two days though while they got me the paper-but I had a feeling the passport wouldn't have been enough for you to smile at."

Earl wiped the water out of his right eye and looked back down at his passport, it was as if his body was stuck-he knew he had to thank Chiya for this, but was so overjoyed that he couldn't even speak or show any other emotion other than shock.

I'll never, ever, forget what Chiya has done for me today…

he thought still looking at the passport, he could barely hold it still, as he was trembling so much.

"So-o…"

Earl glanced up at Chiya again, who now raised an eyebrow at him. Earl continued to stare expressionlessly at her, he was assuming that she wanted a thank you from him, which he would gladly give. He then widened his eyes at the sight of something, her fingers were practically bouncing up and down, her face had a look of excitement and anticipation, and her feet were tapping excitedly-she was waiting for her gift.

Earl widened his eyes and gasped, a violent shock going through his body, he hadn't gotten her a thing; yet she was anxiously awaiting for her gift. He had originally thought that she was joking about getting him a gift, otherwise he would have gladly spent money on something for her. The real painful thing going through his mind, was that he knew that she only cared about his gift-Seppuku wouldn't get her anything even on a happy day; but Earl on the other hand was her only friend.

"Uh…" he grunted with a disturbed look.

Chiya was still smiling at him excitedly, but her smile slowly began to die down as she was just learning the truth. She now had a blank expression, looking away from him momentarily with a disappointed look, "Oh, it's fine, you didn't _have_ to get me anything…"

Earl felt as if his heart had dropped at this, she had given her the best gift of his life, and in return he dropped a bombshell on her head. She half closed her eyes while looking at the ground moments after saying this.

"I'm happy enough that you two get gifts, sharing is what Christmas is all about, and I did just that," Earl now had a crushed look on his face, Chiya's obvious disappointment was what really sealed the deal, "It's just, I use to look forward to Christmas on Mysteria, it was the one time we could stop fearing the army and spend time together as a family, making each other feel good with gifts-me, mom, dad, and my younger sister Abby."

Seppuku didn't show any emotion towards her, unlike Earl who was practically about to break down.

"Of course, I can't see my family anymore, not even for Christmas, and even if I could, my dad died in that bombing-so it wouldn't be the same without him," she dipped her head down more with her teeth clenched sadly, "I've wished every holiday that I could spend Christmas with them again-for six years, I miss them so much…"

She then looked up at the two with a very faint smile, "You two are the closest I have to a family now, so I'm glad I could make you two happy…" her smile faded away momentarily as she looked down at the ground again, she then turned towards the door and began walking away.

She closed the door behind her, leaving Seppuku's office completely silent. Tears began to go down Earl's face rapidly as soon as she left the room, despite the many things he did for her, he felt that she deserved more from him after giving him such a gift. Earl widened his eyes with water still going down his face as he heard Seppuku begin to laugh. He turned around in disbelief at him, finding it repulsive that he could find any humor out of what just happened.

"This hat is pretty badass, this is the best Christmas ever," he then noticed that Earl was crying and cringed at him in response, "What the Hell? Chiya doesn't cry about things, why are you?"

Earl fell back onto a chair that was in front of his desk, holding his forehead in awe, "That was the saddest thing I have ever heard," he then slammed his fists against his passport angrily, "-and it was all because of me being an asshole!"

"What? Because you didn't get her anything in return? That's her fault," Earl growled at him loudly, Seppuku shrugged at him, "Get a hold of yourself Bendek, she said she was happy."

Earl shook his head negatively at him, tears still dropping from his face, "Are you blind? She was clearly crushed…" Seppuku continued to stare at him not understanding why he was so upset, though Seppuku didn't have the same set of principles and morals that Earl had, "Her life already is Hell, yet she does this for us, and we treat her like…"

"Earl…"

He slowly looked up at Seppuku, wiping his eyes again; Seppuku stared into his eyes while tapping his fingers, "Do you think Dr. Stewart and Jody Summer are soft on each other?"

Earl launched himself out of his seat angrily, "Okay, you're not helping at all."

"What? What do you want from me?"

"Answers!"

Seppuku growled, then exhaled, "I don't know, apologize, get her something, treat her nicely."

Earl nodded and began to walk towards the door, "The first thing I owe her is an apology, let's just see where things take off from there."

Seppuku began to inspect his new fedora excitedly, the black and red hat would fit his suit and scarf much better. Earl shut the door behind him softly, immediately looking over at Chiya's room-it was both opened and dark. He wiped his face clear of tears and walked over to her door, he had no idea how he would begin his apology. He moved up to her door and looked inside her room, but she wasn't there-she just left the door open. Earl then looked down and found that Mauser was in the hallway.

Seppuku said he'd take away Mauser if he found him outside of her room, she must have stormed out of her room in full fury if she just carelessly left her door open…

he then grabbed Mauser and placed him back in her room, closing the door afterwards. He could tell that Chiya didn't go inside his room, and the bathroom was dark as well-meaning she left for the garage. Earl quickly ran out of the hallway towards the garage, hoping to catch her before she left the base. He ran with his teeth gritted in determination, he didn't want to let this inconvenience ruin their friendship again like on Aeropolis, because the truth of it all-was that Chiya was his only friend as well.

He kicked open the garage door, but was too late, the _Purring Kitten_ was already gone.

"Dammit!"

He then gritted his teeth as he looked at the _Red Dove_, Seppuku would be furious if he took it to pursue Chiya, but he knew that he may need a fast vehicle. He leapt inside of the _Red Dove_ and turned it on quickly, immediately spinning around towards the garage door.

"Driving on Christmas Day…" he muttered aloud at the thought of how much traffic there would be.

He then left the garage and immediately began driving down the streets of the Lower City, he knew that Chiya went to the Upper City-she was either going to Red Canyon or somewhere in the Upper City. Earl didn't see Chiya in plain sight, it was becoming clear to him that she had simply ran as soon as she left his office, as she had already made so much progress getting away from the base. Earl noticed that the sky was unusually navy blue looking, as if it could begin snowing at any moment. He shook his head negatively and continued driving quickly, surprisingly there were a few vehicles roaming the streets of the Lower City, which was very rare-but this meant that the Upper City would be packed with drivers.

Not much later Earl was coming up on the slope that led to the Upper City, he was beginning to lose hope that he could find Chiya, there would be too many parked and moving vehicles in the city to spot her-the only significant thing about her machine over normal vehicles was that it was red and pink with a tinted window. It was possible that she was heading for Red Canyon so she could isolate herself in the ship-or worse, she could fly away. Earl sped up, going up the slope greatly over the posted speed limit, he nervously clenched his teeth as he scanned the area for any sign of Chiya. He officially entered the Lower City and would be driving past Bart's Café quickly, as it was right on the border of the Upper and Lower City. He was then overly relieved at the sight of something next to Bart's Café-the _Purring Kitten_.

Earl sighed, "I was hoping this wouldn't be a very public apology, but I guess that's what I get…"

He parked the _Red Dove_ right next to the _Purring Kitten_, immediately leaping out and running for the door.

Chiya was sitting sadly at the counter making no sounds, for once there were other people in the café-only Chiya was disturbing everyone with her very noticeable sorrow. Bart was standing behind the counter, but wasn't speaking to her, as he felt awkward just like everyone else by Chiya's unfitting mood on a holiday. Moments later Earl charged into the café fairly loudly, alerting everyone in the café except for Chiya.

"Thank God…" muttered Bart.

Earl stood still for a moment, now seeing Chiya in her true state. He exhaled at her, momentarily taking a seat right next to her. Her initial reaction was that of surprise, but didn't turn her head towards him, only moving her eyes towards him.

"Hello…" she greeted.

Well she greeted me this time, that's much more progress than on Aeropolis…

Earl bit his lip as he looked at her passionately, "Chiya, I am so sorry that happened, I can easily try and explain myself…"

"Okay…" she responded faintly.

He looked around the café, everyone was watching the two-including Bart. _Jesus Christ…_ he thought realizing that this was interesting to everyone. He then exhaled and put his hands together.

"Me and my family didn't celebrate Christmas at all, so I had no idea how that worked for one," Chiya jolted her head up slightly at the mentioning of his family, "If I knew what you were doing for me, I would have gotten you the most expensive thing I could find."

Chiya silently nodded her head, Earl widened his eyes as he was already running out of things to say, "Uh, and believe me when I tell you, I do treasure our friendship greatly, which is why I wasted no time trying to find you."

She nodded again at him, "It's okay, I could easily tell that you felt bad before I left."

Earl lowered his eyebrows in confusion at her, _What does she want from me then?_

Bart slowly lifted up a mistletoe with a look of proposal, Earl immediately glared at him and shook his head negatively. Bart then dropped the mistletoe quickly, clearing his throat moments after.

"You know Chiya, Earl does mean well-even if his apology is God awful."

Earl narrowed his eyes angrily at Bart, before Chiya shook her head negatively, "I already told him, he didn't have to get me anything..."

Bart and Earl both looked at her somewhat sadly, she then began to shake her head franticly, "I- I gotta' go…" she said as she launched herself up and ran out the door.

Earl watched her with widened eyes, surprised that she decided to run. Bart quickly grabbed Earl's shoulder, "Well don't let her get away!"

"Right."

He quickly got up and began to pursue Chiya out of the café, everyone was still watching them. She was running with her hand on her forehead, but was suddenly shocked at the sight of snow starting to fall from the sky.

"What the-"

"Chiya wait!"

She then stood still, her hair blowing along with the wind and snow. He stood behind her, fearing for her sudden desire to run outside-she even ran past the _Purring Kitten_, as if she was just trying to escape from him.

"I can tell you're very hurt, you need to let me he-"

She whipped her head around furiously at him, "You're damn right I'm hurt!" He gasped at her sudden change of heart, she had her teeth clenched and eyes angrily locked on him, "I'll admit, I was hurt when you didn't have a gift for me, but that was okay; it was when it reminded me of my family that I became hurt!"

Earl shook his head not understanding, "I know you miss your family, but we'll-"

She pointed at him with a very solid finger, "I gave you a passport! _You _can see your family whenever you want now! B- but I can't!" she said with a very distressed look, Earl shook his head negatively at her in awe, she didn't seem as angry anymore, rather she was breaking down, "I wish I could see my family again every day of my life, but I can't-or I'll be arrested or maybe even executed; but you don't even want to see _your_ family! How can you not want to see your family ever again? That night you told me that you didn't want to ever see them again-that's what got to me…"

Earl nodded at her understandingly, "I see what you're saying now…"

"I don't even have a dad anymore, I never get to see him again…" she said holding her face with both hands.

She's out of control, I need to stop this somehow…

"My dad was my favorite person in the world, and cruel fate took him away from me all because of that stupid random bombing!"

Earl stomped his foot down loudly, immediately silencing her-her eyes were full of water by now, but as always she was managing not to cry, "Chiya, I didn't get a chance to thank you for your gift to me; it really meant a lot to me and told me that you truly pay attention to my rambling about Korea-you pay attention to me."

Chiya swallowed as she continued to listen to him, by now his hair was covered in snow, "I may have hurt you today, clearly opening up some pretty bad emotional wounds-but realize that I will always be here for you, even when we go to Mysteria for the third race," she widened her eyes at him, he then rubbed the back of his head, "Basically what I'm saying; is that if we get there, and a firing squad immediately takes aim at you-we go down together."

"What about Seppuku?"

"Oh please, he'd probably take our wallets right off our bodies afterwards…"

Chiya slightly smiled at this, "Yeah, that sounds about right…"

"Now, there's an obvious distinction between us: you miss your family, and I don't miss mine," she returned a look of discontent at his choice of words, "You and me just don't think the same when it comes to family-if I could give you my family, I would, but I can't."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "What's your father like?"

"Abusive alcoholic."

She widened her eyes at him, "I'm sorry…"

Earl smirked at her, "I don't care, I'm through with him."

Chiya nodded at him understandingly, Earl seemed to have finally cooled her off. He looked back up at her with a passionate smile, "I was glad to hear that you consider Seppuku and me as your family, and I would certainly be honored to celebrate any other holiday with you from now on-of course though, I'm going to get you a late present."

She finally smiled at him, the same gleeful look he is accustomed to seeing, "Thanks."

Earl breathed in, then exhaled very slowly, "-and I'm beginning to think, that I might be available for that movie…"

She grinned at him, "Excellent, which movie?"

Earl found that this was much easier sounding now that he gave in, realizing that it could still be a fun night without beer and manly things, "Oh what the Hell, you can pick, it's Christmas..."

"_Love Within a Bullet," _she answered with a smile.

Earl immediately widened his eyes, "N- never mind I'm picking…"

Chiya laughed at him, "Fraidy cat…"

Earl smiled and stretched out in the air, "Ye-eah alright, let's get back to base, it's cold as Holy Hell out here."

Chiya clapped her hands excitedly, "Oh! I need to tell you all about my adventure in Korea!" she said as they walked back to their F-Zero machines.

To be continued…


	13. Lap 12

==Lap 12=

Three days later, Earl and Chiya were once again practicing Seoli Idong in his room on the blue mat. Chiya came out of her Christmas outrage perfectly fine, she had yet to see what Earl got her as a late present however, only that he agreed to hang out and watch a movie at some point. Seppuku had officially tossed his signature fedora aside and started to wear the one Chiya got him-a black and red banded one; typically, she was overjoyed that Seppuku was content with what she had gotten him. Earl was even more happy at his gift, he didn't plan on telling her; but even with a passport and dropped war crime, he still had no plans of returning to Korea at all-but it was the thought and work she put into the gift that counted.

"Now that we've covered dodging much more, we need to put this to the real test," Earl then grabbed a baseball bat off the floor and held it like a sword.

Chiya widened her eyes at the bat and began to tremble, "Y- you're not going to swing that at me, are you?"

Earl chuckled at her, "You said that you were easily beaten by Goroh by the ship, what if he was simply going to kill you with his sword? What would you do?"

Chiya franticly shook her head negatively, "This is a bad idea, can't you get anything softer?"

Earl swung the bat around stylishly, "You've already proven to me that you can leap away from targets within a second or less, I need about two or three seconds for the bat to reach you-you'll dodge it."

Chiya hummed at him doubtfully, but momentarily got into a combat stance, "So I'm just going to jump back right away?"

Earl nodded affirmatively, preparing to swing at her whenever she was ready. Chiya exhaled nervously, then nodded at him.

"Alright, get off your toes the first second you see me move the bat."

The two were once again only in their socks, Chiya was only standing on her toes-naturally afraid that she may not be quick enough. _I can trust him, he wouldn't actually let me get hurt,_ she thought with a smile.

"Alright, re-eady…" he said looking her in the eyes.

Chiya waited for the sign that he was about to swing at her, then widened her eyes as his hand very quickly moved up with the bat. She quickly bounced off of her toes-but she suddenly stubbed her right toes attempting to jump away.

"O-ow!" she yelled grabbing her foot, Earl then violently cracked the bat across her left breast, sending her straight to the floor in agony, "O-ouch!" she yelled now holding her left breast.

Earl gasped as she now lay on the floor holding the area where she was hit, "Oh God, Chiya are you oka-"

She then angrily kicked him in the crotch out of anger, he then held his crotch and fell to the ground as well, "Jesus, what the He-ell…" he muttered as he crunched up in pain.

Chiya and Earl were both on the ground holding their vital areas in pain, Chiya breathed in with her eyes closed in pain. Earl was rolling on the floor with an ill look on his face, Chiya had only hit his crotch because she felt that this evened it out.

"Oh God, I'm going to vomit…" Earl mutted as he continued to curl up.

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him while still holding her breast, "Well you should've gotten a softer object…"

"Yep, I am definitely about to vomit!" he said disregarding her.

Seppuku then kicked open Earl's door with a panicked look, "Guys, Jody Summer ju-" he then grunted and raised an eyebrow at the two; wondering why Chiya was holding her breast, and Earl holding his crotch, "A- Am I interrupting something?"

Chiya waved her other hand at him negatively, "No, we're just training on each other again…"

He slowly looked down at Earl in confusion, "Uh, o-okay…"

Earl still hadn't looked at him, still holding his crotch and stomach in pain, "What about Jody Summer..?"

Seppuku clapped his hands together, "She just informed me that we can leave for Chiya's F-Zero evaluation today, but only today-so we need to get going, _now._"

Chiya immediately got off of her feet and looked at him in shock, "Today!? I become an F-Zero racer today!?"

Seppuku growled at her, "Only if you pass the evaluation, so get your game on today Flower, this is your chance."

"What if I fail? Can I try again?"

"Doubtful, if you fail the first time, then they probably won't be interested in you again-it's best if you just seal the deal on your first go."

Earl slowly got up while holding his stomach, "Wait, so what does she have to do in this evaluation?"

"First they ask her questions, then she just has to prove that she can race-by winning a time trial."

She beamed at him excitedly, "A time trial? That sounds easy!"

"Even with landmines and only one restoration pad?"

She then widened her eyes at this, but grinned again momentarily, "Easy."

Seppuku gave her a thumbs up, "Then meet me and Bendek in the garage, your time to shine is here."

Chiya jumped up excitedly, "Great, just let me head to my room quickly, to make sure I'm not bleeding."

Earl then began to groan as he held his stomach more tightly, "You have a powerful foot Chiya…"

Minutes later, Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku stood around the garage as they were just about to leave for the underground Mute City race track that was in the Gambling Area of Mute City. Chiya had raced on this track before during the bet race, but she completely failed and lost to Baba and Dr. Stewart as she made a mistake at one of the gravity jumps set up on the track-she was lucky not to have died or gotten hurt as a result. At the time of the bet race, Chiya still had a broken hand from her encounter with Blood Falcon, therefore had only been steering with her non-dominant hand.

"When they ask questions, don't give stupid responses," said Seppuku.

"It'll be fine, I'm sure they'll let me in as long as I beat this time trial."

Earl nodded in agreement, "She did just win that Auction race, I'm sure that alone almost proves that she can race."

"That's right, this'll be easy as long as I dodge the landmines."

Seppuku then poked her forehead, "I'm serious, don't act stupid, F-Zero is also about drama, so they're looking for someone with a unique character-not one who can bake cookies of themselves."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at her, "But maybe if you actually ate the Chiya Snack, then you-"

"Let's go Bendek, Flower," he said as he began to climb aboard the _Red Dove_.

Earl joined him as Chiya climbed aboard her own vehicle, her heart was pounding in fear at what could happen. It was nearly an entire year since she joined Seppuku's team, she had practiced and worked on making the _Purring Kitten_ all year-now it was finally time to determine if she was F-Zero material. One fear she had, was that female racers were outnumbered by their male counterparts greatly-but there were several females none-the-less. The main thing she feared about this, was that the F-Zero committee could be possibly sexist, not considering females as much as males; she was praying that this wasn't the case however. There were other female racers who sometimes entered the Grand Prix: such as Princia Ramode and Lily Flyer- Princia didn't always enter because of her role as Princess of the desert planet known as Magica, rival planet of Mysteria. Lily Flyer didn't always participate because of her role in the Federation, she was even younger than Chiya, but was always running secret missions-whether it was assassinations or even sabotage missions. Princia Ramode was someone Chiya was taught to hate, as Mysteria always layed down threats to invade the planet-Chiya had been brainwashed by the military controlled education system into believing that Princia was a power-mad imperialistic ruler who wanted to destroy Mysteria-to this day Chiya had suspicions that it was Princia who ordered the bombing of Mysteria that led to her father's death.

"I'll gladly kick Princess Ramode's ass on the track…" Chiya muttered as she turned on her engine.

She then chased after the _Red Dove_ moments later; she would later be parking back in the garage as an official F-Zero racer, or just a girl with an F-Zero machine.

Earl began to chuckle as he looked back at the _Purring Kitten_, "I wonder how long it'll take her to notice my first gift to her…"

Seppuku looked back at the _Purring Kitten_, nodding momentarily, "Nice, that fits her personality well."

Chiya was both excited and frightened, on one hand-she could be fulfill her dream and become and F-Zero racer at last; on the other hand, she could completely bomb the evaluation, which would make getting a second shot at an evaluation very difficult. She had already failed to get in University, becoming an F-Zero racer and joining the annual Grand Prix would be the only thing she could now do to make her family proud of her, and fulfill her destiny of bringing fortune into the Flower name. If she were to fail, all hope in life could be lost for her, she would just watch Seppuku race from the private booth again with Earl, but knowing that she would never be a racer would leave her depressed for a very long time. Moments later she noticed that something behind her was glowing pink, immediately leaving her to presume that her vehicle was on fire.

She whipped her head back in fear, then noticed that she wasn't on fire-her engine was leaving a pink trail, rather than the typical blue most F-Zero machines had.

"Woah!"

The _Purring Kitten_ now had a unique trait that not many other F-Zero machines had, this would be something that would boost her fan ratings if she were to become a racer. Naturally, she had to fear if this was a problem with her engine, so she looked down at the speed adjuster to make sure she wasn't overheating; she then widened her eyes at the sight of a paper that was taped to the speed adjuster. She picked it up and began to read it while carefully driving at the same time:

Chiya,

_I hope you're content with the engine adjustment I did for you, it now glows pinkish-red instead of the usual teal color. I devoted a lot of sweat and blood into making this change, literally, the engine turned on while I was adjusting it and I ended up getting a bad burn on my hand. Don't count this as your Christmas present though, this was just a minor gift, I'm not going to stop thinking of a gift until I find you something that makes you feel just as good as I did when I got my gift from you. If you don't like the pink color and want me to make it teal again. Then go to Hell. Just kidding. _

_-Earl _

Chiya set down the paper and grinned, "The pink glow will look great when I steal first place in the Grand Prix this year!" she said aloud excitedly.

Several minutes later, the three found themselves in the parking lot of the Underground racetrack, this time there were no other vehicles in the area. The three were to meet some officials of the F-Zero committee inside of the bar, where they would start off by asking Chiya questions. Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku were walking towards the entrance of the bar, but slowly-Seppuku was giving her a last minute talk about what would happen.

"Remember, these are some of the most evil human beings in the universe, so blurt out anything that may seem interesting about you-whatever dirt you have, they want to know about it."

Chiya and Earl both seemed initially confused at his accusation that the F-Zero committee were evil, "It's racing, how could they be evil?" asked Chiya.

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Money, power, fans, they have it all-I'd bet you if they wanted, they could order F-Zero fans to attack the Federation HQ, and they would too."

Chiya slightly gasped at this, "They would do that?"

"Well no, but they could; F-Zero is practically all anyone thinks about, therefore the committee practically owns the universe."

Earl chuckled at him, "I still don't see how that makes them _evil_,"

Seppuku stopped moving and looked at the two angrily, "Listen you idiots, if they were good-they wouldn't let people like Blood Falcon in the Grand Prix, but the committee has its own army and massive fan base, the Federation would be crazy to try and control the committee, the old saying is: _F-Zero is its own nation_."

Chiya contemplated whether this was a good point or not, what he said was true; someone like Blood Falcon tried to conquer Aeropolis, and yet they still allow him to race.

"Well whatever, let's see what kind of questions they ask me…"

She then continued to walk towards the bar door, Seppuku and Earl now following her as well. The two planned to stick by her during the evaluation to help her answer, Seppuku planned on doing so whether they liked it or not, trusting that Chiya would only mess things up on her own. She approached the door and exhaled, prepared to face her destiny at long last. She opened the door quickly, and was immediately faced with five men in black suits surrounding a table.

"Ms. Flower?" one asked.

Chiya began to tremble immediately, shaking her head affirmatively at the man. Seppuku and Earl began to push the stunned Chiya closer to the table, she was clearly nervous upon finally meeting the F-Zero committee. As she got closer to the men, she began to realize the truth in what Seppuku was saying, she was practically staring at the rulers of the universe. The F-Zero committee could fiscally ruin a poor planet like Mysteria simply by excommunicating the Mist Flow track from the Grand Prix-they indeed did have powers that even the Federation did not possess.

She finally got up to the table and swallowed nervously, letting out a very unrealistic smile at the group momentarily, "Yes, I'm Chiya Flower; hi-i."

Seppuku already had a nervous look, believing that she had gotten a very bad start, it was very clear that she was faking her smile, and her constant trembling was showing that she was afraid of them.

"So you think you have what it takes to be the next big thing in F-Zero, huh?"

Chiya franticly nodded her head affirmatively, "I've been practicing a lot."

The other four men were only there to watch over the evaluation, their role was to determine as a mass whether she would be fit for the Grand Prix.

"One of us caught your performance in the latest Auction race, very good work-this is also why we were so willing to evaluate your skills."

Chiya nodded happily, beginning to calm down now that she heard a compliment, "It was a good race, not to mention I was being chased by Brock Blaskovitz."

"We looked at your track record, and found that you also competed in a bet race at this very track-in which you placed third out of ninth place."

Earl chuckled, "She did pretty good for her first ra-"

"Shut up Earl," Seppuku said punching his arm.

"We were told that you nearly crashed and burned in that race, this is also a major factor in our decision, as we can only let racers in that are attentive and won't die right away-we do have a younger audience watching after all."

Then why do you even allow bloody combat on the track?

she thought hostilely.

"In my defense, I did come out of the crash unharmed, and I still managed to get third."

The committee member nodded with a grin, "So you understand and accept the risk, that other racers can willingly kill you on the track-legally?"

Chiya shivered at this thought for a moment, but nodded affirmatively momentarily, "I've been shot before, I can handle it."

The committee member grinned at her, "Shot you say?" he then sat back with his hands crossed together deviously, "Tell us more…" he muttered with a somewhat maniacal grin.

Chiya narrowed her eyes challengingly, realizing that she did have interesting stories to tell, "Well, I was the one who killed Brock Blaskovitz, the Federation awarded me for doing this."

"But Ms. Flower, how can Blaskovitz be dead," he then widened his eyes at her with a grin, "-if he's one of the new F-Zero racers?"

Chiya and Earl both gasped, Seppuku simply raised an eyebrow at this news, Chiya shook her head in disbelief, "You can't do that! He's trying to kill me!"

The committee member licked his lips, "Sounds fun, it would open up a whole new fan base in F-Zero, _Flower vs. Blaskovitz!_"

Wanker…

she thought angrily.

"Do you wish to end this evaluation now then? Knowing that your rival is in the Grand Prix?"

Chiya gasped, then dipped her head down slowly, "N- no, I want to race…"

"Good, and as I can hear, the Lieutenant would be helping you through this anyways, so there should be no fear in this."

Chiya nodded silently, now disturbed that the Grand Prix would immediately face her in a life threatening situation. She then lowered her eyebrows with a slight grin, _My rivalry with Blaskovitz must have won me a few points…_

"Next question, can you handle both the heat and cold?"

"I like the cold, not the heat."

"So, the first race of this annual Grand Prix takes place on Fire Field, can you handle this?"

Fire Field? Where's that? Is it like Sand Ocean?

she thought with full of questions.

"Yes, I can handle it," she lied.

The committee member put his hands on the table and leaned towards her, "This is going to sound a bit murky, but my next question is; who will be your enemies?" he then looked up at Seppuku, "We imagine you'll have similar foes that the Lieutenant has, but he _did_ attack both Blood Falcon and Captain Falcon, so where do you stand?"

Chiya was now faced with a difficult question, she had to appease both the committee member _and_ Seppuku with this question. Luckily, Chiya already had her mind set on who her enemies would be months ago.

"Only those who are evil or attack me."

"Define, evil."

Chiya put her finger on her lip, "Blood Falcon, Black Shadow, spiders, beer, drugs, and men who try to skip the other bases and try going for third base after prom night on Mysteria-those kinds of men are ev-"

Seppuku then punched her arm, "Blood Falcon and Black Shadow," he reasserted for her.

Earl was staring at Chiya somewhat disturbed, "D- well did he get to third base?"

"No!"

"So I take it you're from Mysteria?" the committee member asked.

"Yes, I am."

He grinned at her and nodded, "Interesting, we've never had an F-Zero racer from Mysteria-it's such a hated planet, you'd instantly be famous on your planet."

"Yeah well, I'm wanted on Mysteria for a family related crime."

Several of the men began to discuss with each other excitedly, the man had an intrigued look, "A bounty for a family related crime?"

"Yes."

"What did you do?"

She swallowed nervously, wondering if this was the moment that she should finally reveal what she did, both Seppuku and Earl desperately wanted to find out, "Uh…" she rubbed the back of her head nervously, feeling pressured into this-but she ultimately dipped her head down shaking negatively, "I can't tell you, no one can know what I did; it's a dark past I want to keep to myself."

The man snapped his fingers, "Damn, but that's fine, it would just add mystery to your character, something many people like."

Chiya exhaled in relief, Earl appeared disappointed that she still hadn't told them the truth about her past, especially since she knew about his dark past. Seppuku's past was even more of a mystery than Chiya's however, she had already revealed the biggest parts of her past, all that remained to uncover-was what she did.

"Last question, then we'll let you drive around the track," Chiya rubbed her forehead nervously, "What does Chiya Flower do outside of her machine?"

Chiya glanced at Seppuku for a moment, he grinned and nodded at her, Earl gave her a thumbs up. She then turned her head towards them, "I like to draw, listen to music, learn Seoli Idong, and I love cats."

Seppuku face palmed, "Hey Chiya, what about your fascination for crime fighting?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Well I don't thi-"

"You were _just _telling me how much you love fighting crime…" he said with an angry look.

Chiya widened her eyes at him, _But that would be lying, I like helping people, but I don't actually like fighting crime…_

"Is this true Ms. Flower?"

She grunted and looked back at him, "Uh, yes…" She then pulled out her handgun and put it on the table, she had modified it months ago to have a yellow taser on the bottom of it, "This is the gun I've used when fighting, I've killed many criminals in the past with it…"

"Anyone of significance?"

"Just Brock Blaskovitz, but now he's back-somehow…"

The man finally nodded and stood up, "Let's get you on the track, see if you're even worth the breath."

Chiya exhaled, "Right."

Earl then pulled up his headset, preparing to talk Chiya through the time trial, the F-Zero committee member immediately noticed the headset and recognized it as a vehicular headset.

"Do you communicate with Ms. Flower as she races?" he asked looking at Earl.

"Y- yes."

He then hummed approvingly at Earl, "In that case, you're being evaluated as well."

Chiya and Seppuku both looked at him startled, Earl widened his eyes, "Huh?"

"You're her manager, therefore you need a managers license if you're to do this during the Grand Prix, I think if we're pleased with Ms. Flower, then we can grant you one."

Chiya was staring at Earl in amazement, somewhat excited for him, _An F-Zero manager? My manager? Earl would be my manager, not Seppuku…_

Earl nodded, "Uh, okay then."

The man then clapped his hands, then rubbed them together, "Well then, let's race!"

A few minutes later, Chiya sat at the starting line of the track in the _Purring Kitten_. She was overly nervous, but knew that she had to keep her mind on the time trial, whether she was accepted or not could solely be determined on how fast she races.

Who's time am I trying to beat?

she wondered.

Earl was in Seppuku's private booth looking out the opening of the bunker like structure, the main issue he had was that no monitors would be displaying her, nor would she be on the television-he was practically blind, only able to guide her through with what she reported to him. Something that was keeping Earl fairly nervous, was that two of the committee members were observing him from behind, they were sent to watch _his_ performance at managing.

"Are you ready?" the main committee member asked through a speaker.

Chiya turned on her engine and began to lift up into the air slightly, signaling that she was ready. The time trial that would determine her future. She was holding onto the steering wheel nervously, her hand constantly shaking, she couldn't bear the thought of failing-all her work going to waste. It wasn't the F-Zero machine she cared about, it was never about the F-Zero machine-it was the Grand Prix and fame she cared about.

"Three, Two, One…"

Her eyes widened at the very last second, placing her foot on the accelerator immediately, her long adventure with Earl and Seppuku had finally brought her right where she wanted to be, now she had to use the golden opportunity and prove that she could race.

"Go."

Chiya roughly hit the accelerator, immediately taking off onto the track, "Here I go Earl!"

"Remember, only two laps to complete-not three."

"Right!"

A clear advantage Chiya had, was that she already familiarized herself with this track, as she had raced here for the bet race; the main problem was that there were traps set up on the track in various locations. Chiya carefully scanned the area for landmines while hugging the side of the track, she felt that if she rounded the corners quickly, this would buy her extra time to beat the established time. She was trying to push her fears away as she raced, understanding that she had to completely focus so she didn't crash.

Seppuku was watching her from the stands, deciding not to even risk sabotaging Chiya's chances by staying near Earl. He was assuming that the two wouldn't have idle chat while racing, as this would be a distraction to her.

Chiya had immediately spotted three landmines down the center of the track, but she easily avoided them since she was hugging the side of the track so much.

"Three landmines in the center, two-thousand meters from the starting line," she reported.

Earl nodded while writing this down on paper; this wasn't anything they usually did, but this was a much bigger deal than the Auction or Bet race. The F-Zero committee members in the booth nodded in approval at their strategy.

Chiya began to skid the side of the track on accident, leaving a few sparks in the air. She gasped in shock at her carelessness, she was so fearful of failing that she was having concentration issues. She then gasped even louder as she nearly ran into a landmine-just managing to dodge it.

"T- two landmines, three-thousand and five-hundred from starting line."

Earl could easily hear the stuttering in her voice, realizing that her morale was starting to break; she hadn't faced the dangers of landmines before and was likely frightened by this greatly.

"Just keep going Chiya…"

She breathed in and continued down the track, still making fine timing. She passed a restoration pad, but didn't need it yet, there were more landmines clearly up ahead.

"Four landmines, right ahead of the first restoration pad."

She was staring at the landmines with quivering eyes, moving past them while slightly swerving. She was beginning to panic at the thought of the second lap, she would need to use her boosters constantly, rushing past the landmines at incredible speed. _This is the most frightening thing I've ever done…_ she thought while shaking her head.

"Are you okay? It almost sounds like your hyperventilating."

Chiya widened her eyes at Earl's question, realizing that she was hyperventilating in fear, "Y- yes! I'm scared Earl!" she blurted out panicking.

Earl grunted at her, realizing that she was in trouble, "Over the landmines?"

Chiya bit her fingernail as she drove past more landmines, she was nearly getting hit by them at this point, "Everything! I could die from the landmines, but if I don't throw myself through these, I'll fail and never get to be a racer!"

"Calm down, you haven't hit any yet, so you're doing something right."

Chiya couldn't stop biting her finger out of fear, now that she admitted she was scared-she was acting like it too, "I'm going to die…"

"No you're not!"

"I'm going to explode into thousands of Chiya bits!"

Earl growled at her in frustration, but then noticed something-the more she talked to him, the more clear she sounded. He was thinking of doing something that could either ruin or save her chances of winning-keep her calm another way.

"Say, Chiya, how did you like Korea?"

Chiya raised an eyebrow in confusion as she continued driving, "Wh- what?"

"My home, what'd you think of it?"

Chiya then bit her lip and took her finger out of her mouth, "It was nice, a lot of grassy land."

"What about New Pyongyang?"

She somewhat smiled at the question, simply driving past a few landmines without a struggle, "Nothing like Mute City, but it was very unique in its own way."

"Like?"

Chiya drove past the next restoration pad, dodging three landmines that were down the middle of it, but she was remaining calm, "The people wore things that made me feel like I fit in more, I didn't feel very poor, it was nice."

Earl now grinned as he could see the _Purring Kitten_ coming towards the starting line quickly, preparing for her final lap. He could easily tell that Chiya was indeed a strange person-she worked better under pressure when distracted.

One of the committee members looked at the other, "What's he doing?" the other man shrugged at him, feeling that Earl was using bad strategy.

Chiya passed the finish line and could now use boost power, she would need to use it consistently to beat the time. She swallowed nervously as she put her finger on the boost button, "Okay Earl, second lap, this is where things get bad…"

"Just boost through it and dodge the mines, I wanna' keep talking."

Chiya widened her eyes at his strange tactic, _Does he want me to die?_

"What did you make your Chiya cookie out of?"

She gasped as she hit the boosters, she was too concentrated on where she was driving to respond, but was preparing the answer in her head. She flew right by the first set of mines, her boosters dying down momentarily, "You had various frosting in the kitchen, so I used that for the decorations, the cookie itself was just a matter of shaping."

"It was very cute, and very similar to your drawings you do."

Chiya smiled as she boosted again, "Thanks, I love to draw you, me, and Seppuku like that."

She swallowed at the sight of one of the larger clusters of landmines, this was where her morale was originally collapsing, "Earl, this is it…"

"Rocks, picture the mines like big boulders, now just maneuver around them; just remember, the Purring Kitten has reduced grip."

She swerved around the landmines carefully, she could tell that her machine just slightly touched one of the mines-but not with enough force to detonate it. She wiped her forehead and exhaled in relief, then boosted one more time towards the first restoration pad.

"Suddenly I'm thinking, this might not be so hard after all!" she said with a gleeful smile.

Earl smirked, "Good, now I can stop rambling on about random things."

She collected the needed energy and boosted right through the restoration pad. The gravity jump pad was removed from the track so she couldn't simply take a shortcut past several of the mines, the jump pad is what messed her up during the Bet race.

"How about that engine modification I did for you?"

She raised an eyebrow as she stared at another cluster of landmines, "What modi- oh, yeah I love the pink flare!"

"Good, because I burnt my wrist really badly getting it that way."

She chuckled as she boosted again, "Earl, you don't have to get me another present, you've-"

"Nonsense, you gave me a passport and the freedom to travel through Korea without being arrested, I'm in your debt until you're just as satisfied."

"But I am satisfied, and if I pull _this_ off, then you and me will get to work together at winning the billion credits!"

Earl grinned at the thought of the prize money, "Imagine what we'd do with it…"

She then chuckled at him, "Who says you'd get any of it?" she joked.

"Your manager," he joked back.

She now entered the other area with a restoration pad, running through it as well while boosting. She was nearly in the clear at this point, neither Earl or Chiya was keeping time however.

"Well regardless, you'll be getting something hu-uge from me, I just don't know when."

Chiya chuckled, "If you really insist…"

The glorious moment had then arrived, she managed to cross the finish line unharmed. She widened her eyes and blinked in amazement, realizing that she wasn't dead or hurt. She exhaled in relief that it was over, she wouldn't let this experience ruin her dreams of being an F-Zero racer however, as no track had this many landmines.

"See you back in the bar," said Earl as he took off his headset.

Minutes later, Chiya came running back into the bar, she had no idea if she beat the time she was suppose to, praying that she still had a chance of becoming a racer. All of the F-Zero committee members were standing alongside each other, Earl and Seppuku standing as well. _This is it…_ she thought as she approached the group.

"H- how did I do?" she asked with a nervous look.

The same man she had been talking to looked her in the eyes, "You didn't do too good, only beating the time by two seconds-that would mean you only beat the person in second by two seconds."

Chiya grunted with a sad and disappointed look on her face, "B- but…"

"We already discussed amongst each other what to do with you judging by the evaluation," Chiya's eyes were quivering sadly, she glanced over at Earl who had a troubled look on his face, Seppuku appeared untouched as always. "Are you ready, Ms. Flower?"

She then looked back at him, "For what?"

He then smirked at her, "For the big league-alongside Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Dr. Stewart and other famous faces?"

Chiya and Earl both gasped very loudly, Chiya falling down onto a seat seconds after hearing this. Seppuku smirked at her, he was proud of her accomplishment-a dream fulfilled after so long.

"I'm in!?"

"We've decided to give you your moment, see how your fan base builds up, and what you can make of your F-Zero career."

He then handed her a license with her picture already on it, another man gave Earl one as well-only his wasn't an F-Zero license. Chiya whimpered in amazement at the F-Zero license she was now holding, this was her key into the annual Grand Prix-she did it.

"I can't believe it! Screw university-I'm a pro-racer now!"

"No, Captain Falcon is a pro-racer, _you_ are a novice on the track," the man corrected in a somewhat hostile tone.

Chiya nodded at him, then looked down again in amazement, "So this means I can join this upcoming Grand Prix?"

"That's right."

Chiya put the license up to her lips, shaking her head in disbelief. _Thank you Seppuku, thank you for taking me off the streets…_ she thought looking aimlessly at the ceiling.

"We expect good things from you, and assuming that you're friends with the Lieutenant, we can expect a show from you."

Chiya stood up and saluted them, "Yes, I will!"

They then began to walk away from her, Chiya was left stunned at this, after so many months of work-she finally could call herself an F-Zero racer. She had officially went from a troubled girl on the streets, to someone who has a shot at the billion prize reward.

Earl put his hand on her shoulder, "Well, you did it Chiya-you finally did it."

She smiled at him, "Thank you Earl, there's no way I could have done that without you…"

Seppuku crossed his arms at the two, "Then we need to celebrate, considering this is the one day I can leave the base."

Earl nodded in agreement, "I think we should go bowling this time."

Chiya clapped her hands together excitedly, "Yes! Let's go bowling!"

Seppuku grinned at the two, "Systematically throw a heavy ball violently at pins-sounds like a plan."

"Well let's go! Chiya's a racer now!" Earl said excitedly.

Chiya smiled at both of them gleefully, "You guys get going, I'll meet you at the bowling alley, I have to get the Purring Kitten off the track."

Earl nodded and began to follow Seppuku out of the bar, "Are we using custom names when we play?

"Damn right we're using custom names…"

Chiya was still smiling at them as they walked away, momentarily leaving towards a separate door, the _Purring Kitten_ was still near the finish line.

Chiya put her license proudly in her pocket, she felt as if her heart was missing-the only thing she would miss is getting to hangout with Earl in the private booth as Seppuku raced-but he was her _manager _now and would still talk to her as she raced.

"Life has finally gotten good…" she muttered with a smile.

"You can say that again!"

Chiya widened her eyes and turned around-Blood Falcon was suddenly standing right behind her. She gasped and took a few steps back, "Blo- Blood Falcon!"

He began to chuckle maniacally at her, "I'm so sorry that I have to ruin such a perfect night for you…"

Chiya began to tremble, she knew that she could never beat him-he had proven this much on Aeropolis as she couldn't even get a shot on him, nor could she punch him effectively.

"What do you want with me!?"

"Seppuku."

She gasped at his answer, "H- he's not here!"

"Exactly, Black Shadow wants you back on his ship, _now_."

Chiya gasped even louder, taking more steps back towards the _Purring Kitten_, "Black Shadow!?"

Blood Falcon chuckled at her initial response, "That's right…"

She shook her head in disbelief, then made the decision to turn around and run to the _Purring Kitten_-but she ran straight into someone standing behind her. She fell onto the ground after running straight into the person, she slowly looked up and gasped.

"B- Blaskovitz…"

The last thing she saw was Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz standing over her, followed by the bottom of Blood Falcon's boot; and then finally-utter darkness…

To be continued…


	14. Lap 13

==Lap 13=

Darkness-this is all Chiya could see as she struggled to open her eyes, she was hardly awake and could only feel the blazing pain on her face, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember what happened.

"First we cut off her fingers, then her toes…"

What?

she thought as she tried lifting her eyelids.

"-and if she still doesn't comply?"

"We use more painful methods of torture, like vaginal destruction."

Huh!?

"But she doesn't appear to be the strong kind of girl, not like the last female we had here…"

Chiya finally shot open her eyes, immediately gasping at what she was looking at, she was in some kind of medical bay-only full of torturous looking devices. There was dried up blood all over the room, robots walking around, hundreds of red computers, and single light in the room. She began to panic immediately, trying to move-but found that she was trapped in a glass tube with her hands chained up to the top of it, she was still in her regular clothes and had her handgun and tracking device on her. The very first thing she tried to do was reach the tracking device, all she needed to do was press it and Seppuku would know that she was in trouble and give him her location. She was constantly grunting as she tried to press the device with her stomach, just nearly able to touch it.

Why can't I be a little fatter?

she thought angrily as she needed just a single inch to touch it.

"Ah, she's awake."

She dropped her legs back down and gasped, looking around the room quickly for the source of the voice. She didn't see any living being in the room except for robots, it was then that Brock Blaskovitz slammed his hand on the tube from behind her. She jolted up startled and turned around, revealing Brock and Blood Falcon. She gasped yet again at them in surprise, she had been captured with little of a struggle.

"What do you want with me!?"

Calm footsteps could then be heard coming from behind the two, Blood Falcon smirked at her, momentarily stepping aside; that's when she finally came face-to-face with the true enemy-Black Shadow.

"I was told that you didn't put up much of a fight; in fact, I was told you didn't put up a fight at all," he said with a dark smile.

Chiya's eyes were quivering in utter fear at the man, she had no idea where she was. She shook her head in disbelief at him, "Please, what do you want with me?"

Black Shadow pressed a button next to the tube, immediately unshackling Chiya from the chains. She fell onto the floor instantly, hitting her head on the tube. She didn't waste this opportunity however, she began to slap her tracking device constantly, making sure that Seppuku knew that she needed help-only she was beginning to doubt if even Seppuku could save her from this mess.

"Good, good…" Black Shadow said with a large grin.

She took her hand off of the device and gritted her teeth at him, "What?"

Black Shadow began to chuckle at her, "I assume you're calling Seppuku, exactly what I wished for you to do…"

Chiya began to pound her fists on the glass angrily, trying to smash it open-but she was like an insect inside of a jar, "I want to go home!" she pleaded.

"This is your home now, at least until we recapture Seppuku..."

Recapture?

She then pulled her handgun out and began firing at the glass, but this was getting her nowhere, as the bullets merely bounced off the glass with ease. She gasped at how ineffective this was, momentarily lowering her gun again.

"Fine, do whatever you want to me, even violate me if you want-but leave my friends alone…"

Black Shadow and Blood Falcon both laughed at her, Black Shadow shook his head negatively at her, "Please, you'll find that no one here would bother sexually assault a prisoner-we have more important things to do."

Brock chuckled silently, "Speak for yourself…"

"You still haven't answered any of my damn questions!"

Black Shadow sighed at her, "With you captured, Seppuku will come to me, very simple," he then grinned at her again, "But of course, if he doesn't come for you, then we will come for him using your information against him."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "I would never betray my friends, I'll die here before I help you with your evil goals…"

He began to laugh at her, "That's somewhat the plan…"

She grunted at him, once again trying to break open the glass with her fist, "You stupid girl, we're hundreds of years ahead of the universe in technology, obviously we have very durable glass…"

She then looked around the room again, realizing that everything was indeed very futuristic, she then looked back at him angrily, "Why do you want Seppuku?"

He put his hand on the glass, moving his hand across it slowly, "Because he's going to help me, help me finally rid the universe of Captain Falcon…" he then tapped his sharp finger towards Chiya's face, "-and once Captain Falcon is dead, nothing will stop me from turning Earth into a pile of ashes, in which I will assume the role of God! Recreating the Earth in my perfect image…"

Chiya gasped at his intentions, "You want to destroy Earth!?"

He smiled at her, "Not quite, I want to wipe every living being off the planet, then I will implement a new living being-a superior living being, to the Earth…" Chiya had her eyebrows lowered at him as she listened, "-and once this happens, I will watch as the living being I created expands, just like the humans-only they will all obey me, view me as their God-as I am a God."

Chiya shook her head in disbelief, "You're insane…"

Black Shadow slammed his hand roughly against the glass, leaving a few cracks on it, "I'm far from insane! We were _all_ created to assume the role of God, many have tried, but all but one have failed-and I am that one, I am the only one powerful enough to assume the role of God…"

"You can't just become God, you either are or aren't, and you-are not," she looked at the horns on his mask, "Perhaps the opposite of God…"

Black Shadow shook his head negatively, "It'll be a perfect world, my version of Earth will work much better…"

Chiya chuckled at him, "So what happens when you get elderly and die, genius?"

"I won't die, I no longer can die," Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "Would you believe me, if I told you that I'm over four hundred years old?"

Chiya shook her head negatively, "Yeah, right-and I'm Santa."

Black Shadow finally stepped away from her, backing up behind Brock and Blood Falcon, "I'm growing tired of you, so I'll explain what's going to happen…"

Black Shadow held up a razor knife from a table, "You're going to tell us where Seppuku operates, for every time you lie to us, we punish you…" he then turned on the razor knife, Chiya widened her eyes at the sight of the sharp spinning blade, "But if you tell us the truth, and we manage to capture Seppuku as a result-then I will lend you to Brock Blaskovitz, where he will beat you to death, in which you will be free from this Hell."

Chiya began to kick the glass violently, but was still getting nowhere, "You're a cruel maniac!"

Blood Falcon grinned and pointed at her, "Don't worry, you can lie one time-the first punishment isn't that bad…"

She swallowed nervously, looking back at the razor knife, "Th- that is?"

Brock now smirked at her, "We put deep cuts all the way down your arms and legs, the pain will be excruciating, but not nearly as bad as the next punishments if you continue to lie…"

Chiya shook her head in disbelief, she was living in a horror film, "What if I refuse to answer at all?"

Black Shadow turned the razor knife on again in response, Chiya's eyes were now quivering, as she collapsed onto the floor holding her face, her eyes were watering-but as always, was managing not to cry.

Be strong Chiya…

Black Shadow placed the razor knife in Blood Falcon's hand, "I'm exhausted, wake me after she makes her first decision…"

He then began walking away, leaving Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz alone in the room with her. Chiya shook her head with her hands planted at her face, she couldn't believe the mess she was in now-she had only just finally gotten her F-Zero license, only to be faced with such a cruel fate. She slowly looked down at her handgun, realizing that there was still two bullets left inside, she knew that if she wasn't saved in time, she may have to do something drastic just to avoid the torture.

Suicide is a last resort, when I know Seppuku and Earl have failed…

She was staring at the gun in awe, finding it unbelievable that she was looking at suicide as the best option to escape-but at the same time it would be the most honorable thing to do if nothing else, she knew she couldn't endanger Earl and Seppuku by revealing the location of their base. She then looked up from the gun at Blood Falcon, only _just_ wondering where she even was.

"Where are we?"

Blood Falcon kicked the glass, immediately scaring her, "You'll never figure that one out."

Chiya sighed as she looked back down at the gun, "What's the second punishment?"

Brock crossed his arms happily, "We cut the skin off of your elbows and knees."

Chiya cringed and shut her eyes, "…third?"

"We cut your fingers off."

"…fourth?"

Blood Falcon tapped his fingers on the glass, "Toes."

Chiya shook her head at the thought of this, realizing that she would never make it past the second punishment without killing herself, "Fifth?"

Brock whistled in the air, "Painful one, no prisoner has ever continued past that one…"

Chiya widened her eyes, "What is it?"

Blood Falcon smiled at her, "Genital Destruction."

She silently screamed in horror at the sound of this, "Oh my-"

"In your case, Vaginal Destruction…" he said pointing at a very sharp looking machine.

"H- how would I even survive after that!?"

"You seem to be forgetting, we're far more technologically advanced than anyone else in the universe, we have the medical technology to keep you alive even after such a devastating wound."

Blood Falcon turned around, "I may be evil, but I couldn't possibly watch a girl suffer, so the torturing is all yours…"

"Excellent," Brock said nodding.

Blood Falcon had now left the room as well, Brock and Chiya were now alone. Chiya stood up and looked right into Brock's one remaining red eye, rival-to-rival.

"So you survived, huh?"

Brock chuckled at her, "No, you killed me."

Chiya shook her head in confusion, "Well, clearly I didn't."

Brock smirked at her, "I was programmed like a robot, only one memory was left in my mind after you killed me, and that was the moment you shot me off the building."

Chiya continued to stare at him intensely, "So Black Shadow is the one who saved you…"

Brock held his hand up to his face slowly, "I may have died, but my brain and body was perfectly fine-and now I am Black Shadow's puppet, longing for the day that I could get revenge on my arch-nemesis-Chiya Flower."

She nodded at him in response, "Well, you got me, what now?"

He grabbed the razor knife and held it up to the glass, "It is time to make a decision, will you tell me where Seppuku is and take the quick and humiliating death, or will you refuse to answer?"

Chiya could feel her life fading away at the question, she knew that she could just lie and buy herself more time-but she feared that this could get innocent lives killed if she accidentally led them to a house. She couldn't give the whereabouts of the base, otherwise Earl would likely get slaughtered, while Seppuku gets captured.

Would they capture Earl and bring him here with me?

she wondered.

She then shook her head negatively, finding it repulsive that she would even consider this, "I- I don't know…"

"Answer me, where is Seppuku hiding!?"

Chiya began to pout, her lip quivering as she didn't know what to do. She put her hand on the tracking device again, still praying that if she held out long enough, she would be saved.

"So where are you still getting that nice haircut from?" she asked with a fake smile.

He growled at her, "You have thirty more seconds…"

Chiya slammed her fists on the glass angrily, "No, no, no! This is an impossible decision, you're asking me to either betray my friends, or have a painful torture done to me, I can't answer that in thirty seconds!"

"Twenty-five…"

Chiya collapsed back onto the floor, putting her handgun back in her holster.

I'm out of options, I have to take this one for the team…

Chiya remained completely silent for the remainder of the time, constantly pressing the tracking device down with what time she had left. Brock shook his head negatively at her, momentarily pressing a button-the tube immediately raised, allowing her freedom. She gasped and immediately tried running away, but was easily grabbed by him within a second.

"Nice try…"

"Please Blaskovitz! Don't you remember? We weren't always enemies, you even considered adding me to your Red Star gang once!" she pleaded.

He then tossed her over on a table, holding her head down forcibly, he looked down at her face with a serious look, "I do not recognize this, Red Star…"

She gritted her teeth nervously, "Your gang! Remember? You were fighting Michael Chain and the Bloody Chain over control of the Lower City!"

Brock continued to stare at her with a look of confusion, momentarily turning on the razor knife, "I will now put several cuts all over your arms and legs, you will then get your own room, in which you get twenty-four hours to think about your decision more carefully, if you do not tell us the location of the base by tomorrow, then you lose your knees and elbows."

Chiya gasped at him, somewhat relieved that she was going to get a twenty-four hour break from the torture-but she was too frightened at what was about to happen to her to feel relieved. She began to scream in horror as she was about to receive her first punishment.

"Once you get to Mute City, find a university and start a new life there, a new family, a new life, away from Mysteria-just don't look or ever come back here…" Chiya's mom said as she helped Chiya inside of the transport ship.

"Look, I don't know if you are what it says, but if you have any intentions of building a future here, you're going to need more than just fine grades and having a hobby."

Chiya crossed her legs, looking down again while shaking, "I already told my mom that I was leaving-I have no place left to go…" she muttered, unsure of her future.

"Thank you sir, may I ask what your name is?"

"Lieutenant Seppuku."

"I'll admit, I've been curious about your past, it's none of my business though-so I don't persist on asking about it," Earl said to the sad Chiya.

Earl shook his head disapprovingly, "If you can't see how much I value our friendship, then maybe you need to take a look at life from a different perspective-because nearly sacrificing myself so you can live, that is a true friend."

"I'm not gonna' let you do this Chiya, I don't want something bad to happen to you again!" Earl argued.

"Is that some kind of order?"

"Wake up Chiya…" a voice went through her head.

Chiya was in a dark room, her arms and legs were now coated with deep cuts from her torture, she had been thrown in a room with a bed, where she would have twenty-four hours to make a new decision, otherwise she would get the level two punishment.

"Chiya, wake up!"

Chiya was trembling on the bed, which was now soaked with blood from her arms, "No, please don't cut off my elbows, or my knees, please no more…"

She then cringed in pain as someone grabbed her arm slightly, touching a few of the cuts she endured.

"Jesus Christ, you need to open your eyes!"

Chiya was shaking her head negatively, "Just kill me, but no more torture, I won't betray Earl and Seppuku…"

Her head was then gently grabbed and lifted up slightly, she opened her eyes and found that Earl was looking at her with a shocked expression.

"E- Earl, save me…"

He shook his head in disbelief at what he was saying, "Th- This is barbaric!"

He grabbed her hands and helped her up, but she was wobbling constantly from her wounds, "Chiya, we need to get you out of here before you die from blood loss!"

She shook her head, "Can't die, they froze my wounds so blood can't get out…" she muttered faintly.

Earl continued to shake his head negatively, "This is a madhouse…"

He held up an assault rifle and grabbed her hand, carefully moving towards the door of the room. Chiya was still able to walk, but was in so much pain that she was practically delusional. Earl checked the hallways, but found that no one was in the area, Chiya widened her eyes more, beginning to regain consciousness as he held her hand.

"Where are we?" she asked more clearly.

"Some massive ship, and I mean _massive_."

Chiya gasped at his information, she had assumed that she was inside of a building this entire time. He grabbed her hand even more tighter, fearing that she could lose consciousness at any time.

"I know this is a lot to ask of you, but can you run with me?"

Chiya shook her head negatively, "I doubt it…"

He growled in frustration, "This is gonna' be tricky then…"

Now that Chiya came to her senses, she realized the issue of him coming to rescure her, "No! This is what they want you to do, they want to capture Seppuku!"

"He isn't here."

Chiya gasped at him, "Wh- what!?"

"House arrest, remember?"

Damn you Jody…

Earl grabbed her tracking device out of her shorts and immediately began to roll some tape around it that he had in his coat.

"What are you doing Earl?"

He then threw the device aimlessly in the room she was staying in, "As long as that device is always being pressed down by something, we'll always know where this ship is."

Chiya nearly fell over, but got back on her feet quickly, "Please, get me out of here…"

Earl grabbed her hand again and began to walk down a hallway, "I have the ship docked here secretly, if we can just make it back to the docking bridge without being caught."

"We can't be caught, we'll both be dead."

He raised an eyebrow at her as they walked, "Who's ship is this Chiya?"

She gritted her teeth in pain as she looked into his eyes, "Black Shadow's…"

Earl widened his eyes, a shock going through his spine at her answer, "Holy, yeah we need to get out of here…"

Earl looked down at Chiya's legs, praying that she could by chance run, but she was limping-meaning she couldn't run. Things then took a turn for the worse, as several screens began to suddenly turn on throughout the hallway of Black Shadow.

"It doesn't surprise me that Seppuku sent his lackey, to save a lackey."

Earl immediately widened his eyes at the screen, shocked in disbelief that it truly was Black Shadow.

"I'll just have to capture both of you, very fitting, that you two will die together-you too will be tortured as Chiya has, only she will always be one step ahead of you, losing her elbows and knees being the next step."

Earl gasped at this, looking back at Chiya quickly, she had her head dipped down and was trembling.

"Earl, leave me, you can still get out of here unharmed…"

Earl exhaled quickly, then wrapped his arm around her, "No…"

He then lifted her up over his shoulder, she faintly managed to wrap her arms around his neck, "You need to leave me Earl, I'm finished…"

Earl began to carry her while holding his assault rifle with one hand, beginning to speed run down the hallway, "Shut up you idiot…" Chiya gasped at him as he was struggling to carry her down the hallway, "I already told you on Christmas, we die together…"

Chiya grunted at him, then managed to pull out her handgun, aiming it over his shoulder.

"Earl, you stubborn man…"

Suddenly a robot came out of a door, it had no weapons-yet Earl began to annihilate it by spraying bullets. Chiya glanced behind her to make sure no one was coming, but it was clear.

"Leave me, if Blood Falcon or Brock Blaskovitz comes, then we'll both die right here…"

Earl chuckled silently, "So, he _was_ working with Black Shadow then…"

"He'll kill both of us Earl, just go! Bring the Federation, I can survive without elbows or knees."

Earl shook his head angrily at her, "I thought I told you to shut up…"

About three minutes later, they approached the hallway leading to the docking bridge, it was a fairly long stretch, but they were almost there. Earl finally let Chiya down and grabbed her hand again, "I'm sorry Chiya, I know this is going to hurt…"

He then put more force on her hand, beginning to run down the hallway, Chiya was biting down in great pain as she was being forced to run as well-but she didn't object to this. It was then that Blood Falcon came walking in from behind them, the two were nearly to the docking bridge door, he wouldn't be able to catch them even with his superhuman speed. He grinned evilly at the two, then slowly began to raise his handgun at them.

"Two birds, one bullet…" he muttered taking aim all the way across the hallway.

Chiya and Earl were still running with each other, Earl tightly holding her hand as they ran. Blood Falcon took aim at Earl, getting a perfect aim at him-but then had an idea and changed targets. Blood Falcon stuck his tongue out as he prepared to fire, needing to get the shot just right-he fired. Earl and Chiya were mere meters away from the door, once they got behind it, they would be protected by a bulletproof door. Chiya then screamed in agony, Earl widened his eyes as he could then feel her hand go faint, she was no longer holding onto his hand-only he was.

"Chiya!"

She then dropped to the floor, a bullet through her chest. He let go of her hand and lifted her up again, putting her over his shoulder.

"I can heal you as soon as we get in the ship!"

"F- for God sakes Earl, Blood Falcon's right there, just run!"

Earl disregarded her request and took aim at the sprinting Blood Falcon, Earl gritted his teeth, realizing that Blood Falcon could easily dodge a bullet if he wanted to, he had to land the perfect shot before he reached the two.

"Burn in Hell you cloned freak!"

He then began to spray bullets all over the hallway, Blood Falcon was dashing side-to-side dodging most of them, but Earl was still determined to hit him. Chiya finally lifted her handgun up with what strength she had and fired once, immediately hitting Blood Falcon in the head-sending him to the floor.

Earl gasped at her successful shot, then quickly carried her into their ship. Blood Falcon moments later raised his head with a smirk, the bullet had only hit his nose, which then began to regain its shape with a gelatin like movement-his nose had automatically been fixed.

"You win this time…" he muttered with a maniacal smile.

Earl tossed Chiya on the couch in the living room of the ship and quickly ran to the bridge of the ship. He didn't even bother sitting down, simply punching in coordinates to leave the area, intending to head straight back to Earth. He wiped his head nervously and proceeded with the autopilot maneuvering, then ran back to the living room quickly.

Chiya lay on the couch groaning, her grey shirt now beginning to soak with blood after getting shot-luckily it didn't appear to be anywhere in the chest that contained a vital organ. Earl immediately ran up to her, pulling off her shirt and taking out a medical kit.

"E- Earl, wait…"

Earl's eyes were quivering at her, "Yes Chiya?"

She slowly grabbed the collar of his leather coat, "Don't you dare take off my bra, do another workaround…"

Earl nodded at her, "Of course, Chiya."

She continued to lay looking at the ceiling of the ship, then looked down at her arm-she was amazed that she was even alive after receiving such cuts.

"I'm going to make you all better, then we're going to make those bastards pay, they just declared war on me…" Earl said with an angry look on his face.

Minutes later, Black Shadow and Brock Blaskovitz rejoined Blood Falcon in the same hallway. Black Shadow appeared overly angered at the fact that they escaped.

"Blood Falcon you idiot, you can't win races, you can't kill Falcon, and you can't stop a wounded girl and a mechanic…"

Blood Falcon began to chuckle at him, Black Shadow then narrowed his eyes angrily at him, "I'm starting to think I should just destroy you, because now we have to recapture the girl if we want that information…"

Blood Falcon shook his head negatively at him, "I think the better answer has been in front of us this entire time…"

Blood Falcon then pointed at the floor, Chiya's blood still remaining on the ground where she had been shot. Black Shadow momentarily grinned at the blood on the ground, "I see…"

"Who needs the annoying defiant version of the girl, when we can just make our own?"

Black Shadow crossed his arms happily at Blood Falcon, "Perhaps I underestimated you, this blood contains all of her memories and knowledge, with this-we can create our own Chiya Flower, the superior Flower…"

Brock grinned while looking out into space, "You two can work on your little garden, but as for myself…"

He crossed his arms out as he watched the white and blue ship leave his sight, "I will hunt her down, and finish what I started…"

To be continued…


	15. Lap 14

==Lap 14=

The following day, Earl stood with Seppuku in his office. The universe was outraged, nearly every TV in the universe was all on news channels, and every channel contained the same thing-images of Chiya Flower. Earl shook his head negatively as the two watched the Mute City news channel, which had the most up-to-date information.

A female reporter was standing next to several images of Chiya's arms and legs-now stitched up.

"The universe is up roaring in rage at what happened to the twenty-three year old Chiya Flower the other day, as she had been contained and tortured by the most wanted man in the universe-Black Shadow," the reporter brushed her hair aside, "Luckily, she managed to escape from her captors-she went straight to the Federation afterwards with her story."

The screen switched to another reporter who was standing next to the Federation Headquarters surrounded with hundreds of protestors, "As you can see, people are viewing this act of violence as something much more, not only fearing for the young Chiya Flower, but for themselves as well," an image of Jody Summer then appeared to the side of him, "Jody Summer had just made a public announcement about an hour ago, urging the people of the universe to calm down-here's the clip."

It then switched to a video of Jody approaching a stand with Dr. Stewart and John Tanaka behind her, "I met up with the victim this morning, I like many others, was greatly appalled by the intentional cuts done to her-this is not just her problem, this is the Federation's problem, and we are working on a solution to the problem as I speak, wanting to ensure that no one ever has to go through something like this young woman has," she then clenched her fist angrily, "The young woman also informed me, that Black Shadow indeed has plans for genocide against humanity-and I am now working around the clock to gathering all world leaders to come up with a plan of action. What Black Shadow has done is disgusting, insane, unethical, and heartless, and we have every intention of taking him down."

The channel switched back to the female reporter, "People of the universe have already started fundraisers to compensate for Chiya Flower's torture, over seventy-thousand credits already raised for her. The Federation isn't the only ones in hot water right now though, as the community has been at the F-Zero committees neck all day demanding that Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz be stripped of their F-Zero licenses."

It then switched to a clip of the F-Zero committee commissioner, who appeared to be sweating somewhat under pressure, "We are deeply touched for the pain the young Chiya Flower had to go through-especially since she has just become an F-Zero racer herself, but we have decided against Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz being stripped of their licenses." The massive amounts of booing could then be heard in the background, but the commissioner simply brushed it off, "This is a matter of politics and law, we are strictly a sports franchise, if you want the two out of the Grand Prix, then the racers can deal with them on the track-I imagine Chiya Flower will have a bone to pick with them as she begins racing."

The female reporter shook her head negatively, "There have been several lawsuits filed against the F-Zero committee, once again putting F-Zero racing at risk of being shutdown, just as it was after the Great Accident years ago."

Seppuku slammed his hand down angrily, "Dammit, they better not shutdown F-Zero!"

Earl didn't have a response to this, F-Zero racing was the last thing on his mind at the moment, the entire universe was centered on Chiya at the moment-but not for a particularly good reason.

"A man in a brown coat was seen escorting the young Chiya Flower away from the media, refusing to give his name or respond to questions-numerous sources have theorized that this may be the infamous Korean recognized as the Armored Death Sentencer, for war crimes committed during the Korean Civil War."

Earl face palmed and groaned, "Why do I have to be a part of this?"

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "Can you try and get Flower in here yet? We really need to talk about this, since she has all the answers."

Earl sighed, "She's off the deep end right now, she won't stop muttering about her knees and elbows, and has been tightly holding her gun all day."

"Sounds like she's traumatized, fix her," he ordered.

Earl began to bite his finger, "Honestly, I'm a bit scared of her right now…"

Seppuku slammed his fists down angrily, "I don't care! You're her friend, so go fix her, I want to know every little detail about Black Shadow!"

Earl swallowed nervously, "Very well."

He then turned around and began walking towards the door, his eyebrows were lowered nervously-Chiya wasn't the same person she usually was, she was in a very unusual state; as Seppuku had guessed, she could easily be identified as traumatized.

Earl shut the door behind her and looked at Chiya's room, it appeared completely dark when he looked under the door, but he could slightly make out flashing bluish lights coming from inside, meaning she was watching TV as well. Earl gritted his teeth and approached the door slowly, especially fearful at the fact that she had a gun in her hands usually. He calmly knocked on her door, typically she had locked it after such a horrifying experience.

"Yes?" she asked from behind the door.

"Can I come in?" asked Earl.

Chiya didn't respond, but slowly began to open the door to her dark room. Earl grunted at the sight of her, she didn't look anything like she usually did-she was wearing a grey hoodie and dark grey pants, the hood was over her head as well-she was still wearing her stock hat. She had a blank look on her face, somewhat disturbing Earl, but he could understand why she might be acting this way.

"I, uh, like your new look…"

She shook her head negatively as she walked back into her room, "I'm only wearing this so you don't have to be creeped out by my many stitches."

Earl smirked at her, "I had to cut you open again yesterday-stitches aren't going to bother me," he then looked down at her hands, she had her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, but she clearly was holding her handgun inside of the pocket, "It's good that you're taking precaution, but I think your safe for now."

She then pulled out her handgun, "I need something stronger, something that can beat Blood Falcon," she then looked him in the eyes, "Like a rocket launcher."

Earl chuckled at her, "Uh, no, we only have so many of those, and I don't think you can just go down the streets carrying that."

"I've decided that I'm not leaving the base alone ever again, not without you or Seppuku."

Earl shook his head negatively, "Don't be silly, you're a free woman, you can't just hide behind us for the rest of your life."

"I don't want to ever be alone again, that's what made the torture bad, knowing that I was alone."

Earl frowned at her, momentarily lowering his eyebrows angrily. He then pulled her hood down forcibly and rolled up her sleeves, "I want to see the same gleeful Chiya as usual, not this sad thing."

She dipped her head down while exhaling, "Believe me, I wish I could get over this, but I'm just so scared now…"

"That's okay."

She looked back at her TV set, "Not to mention, I'm all anyone is talking about-I bet both our families are watching this same news channel."

Earl rubbed his chin with a smirk, "Well in that case, my family will know that I'm not dead-we're kind of in this mess together," he then grabbed her hand and began carefully pulling her out of her room, "Seppuku wants to see you."

She gasped nervously, looking down both ends of the hallway for Blood Falcon or Brock Blaskovitz. _I know they're going to try capturing me again…_ she thought nervously. She continued to hold his hand while trembling as they walked towards Seppuku's office, constantly looking behind her.

"You're safe here Chiya, ease up…"

She nodded her head slightly as Earl then opened the office door, a faint smile was brought to her face at the sight of Seppuku in the fedora she had gotten him. Seppuku grinned at the two as they walked in, mainly looking at Chiya.

"You got her faster than I thought."

Earl slightly nodded, "Let's get through this quickly, I want to help Chiya recover-this is only going to reopen wounds," Chiya gasped at the mentioning of reopening wounds, immediately grabbing her arms in fear, "Emotional wounds," he corrected.

"Right, Chiya I need you to remember, what did Black Shadow want from you?"

Chiya looked Seppuku in the eyes, then slowly lifted her finger towards him, "You."

Seppuku slowly nodded, "So you were just bait?"

"Kind of, they wanted me to reveal the location of the base to them so they could come find you."

Seppuku growled at her angrily, "-and you told them!?"

She sighed looking down at her arms, "No, I took the torture instead, and was preparing for the removal of my knees and shoulders."

Earl cringed at the sound of this, but Seppuku had a devious smile on his face, "Good, you made a good decision."

Chiya widened her eyes at him, _That's not a very heroic thing to say…_ she thought feeling offended. Chiya then cleared her throat, starting to look more calm, "He claimed that if they captured you-you would help them kill Captain Falcon."

Seppuku gasped at her, then lowered his head, "Strange…"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "He said he wanted to, _recapture _you..?"

Seppuku waved his hand negatively at her, "Who knows what he means-what else?"

She began to stare at his desk aimlessly as she remembered what she said, "Th- then he started going crazy, claiming he was four hundred years old, that he couldn't die, that he was a God, and that he plans on wiping every human being off the Earth, and then creating a new kind of human to make his own planet, one that obeys him."

Earl and Seppuku gasped at this, Earl was grunting constantly at the thought of this, Seppuku momentarily grinned, "So that's his plan…"

Chiya nodded affirmatively, then dropped down onto a chair holding her forehead, "I didn't give them a single piece of info, they'll want to capture me again…"

Earl stomped his foot down, "Well we're not going to let them! Right Seppuku?"

Seppuku nodded affirmatively, "I'm proud of you Chiya, you chose the life of others over your own, and by the looks of it-that was a very difficult thing to do…"

Chiya grasped her head with both hands in frustration, "The images won't leave my head, Blaskovitz held me down on the table for nearly an hour, slowly ripping through my flesh wi-"

"Please stop!" Earl begged while holding his ears, "It sounds like something you'd hear in a God damn horror film…"

Chiya nodded, trying to shake the images out of her head, "I'm sorry…"

Seppuku looked at Chiya with a stern look, "We have a new mission then, Chiya," she looked up at him fearfully, "You and me will systematically take out Black Shadow's minions, all we need to do is kill both Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz in the Grand Prix, and just like that Black Shadow's chain of command will be destroyed."

Chiya widened her eyes, but then thought about something carefully, _I may not have any physical powers, but when in an F-Zero machine, me and Blood Falcon are equally matched…_

"So we're going to focus on killing them, during the races?"

"Yep."

Chiya and Earl both looked at each other, neither seemed to support or condemn this plan.

"What do you think Earl?" she asked.

He shrugged at her, "Sounds like our best option actually, you two are both great racers, as a team I'm sure you can pull this off."

Seppuku chuckled, "-and what a perfect chance we have during the first race-the first race of the Grand Prix will bring us to Fire Field, if they get taken out by us-they're a pile of ashes…"

Chiya gulped at this, "But that works vice-versa too…"

"Which is why we need some more allies."

Earl grinned at him, "I know a great ally you could use who hates Blood Falcon just as much…"

Chiya widened her eyes at him, then smiled-Seppuku on the other hand slammed his fist down, "Hell no! I'd rather bite my finger off the-"

"Captain Falcon is just as good as you, not to mention, allying with him would boost both you and Chiya's approval ratings and fan base."

Chiya clapped her hands together, "That sounds perfect!"

Seppuku growled at his proposal, "At what cost though?"

Earl narrowed his eyes angrily at him, "Chiya's safety?" Seppuku held his forehead angrily, he always had a grudge for Captain Falcon-he was also the one who ruined Captain Falcon's chances of winning the Grand Prix last season by taking the _Blue Falcon_ out before the final lap, "Use the opportunity Seppuku, you also have the Federation likely prepared to side with you, that's like six or seven racers!"

Chiya slammed her fist down, "I don't care what Seppuku thinks, we're doing this!"

"But Ch-"

"Do it Seppuku, or I'm not allying with you at all, I'll just side with the Federation the entire Grand Prix."

Seppuku grunted angrily at her, then exhaled as he looked down, "The first minute Blood Falcon and Blaskovitz are dealt with, the Federation and Captain Falcon alliance is void!"

Chiya nodded, "Very well.

Earl was happy to see Chiya acting more lively, but he needed to seal the deal and break her fear of going out into the world before it expanded.

"Hey Chiya, was thinking we could head out to the video store together."

She glanced over at him nervously, "Vide- yo- you mean out there!?"

Earl nodded affirmatively, "I'll stay right by your side the whole time."

Chiya was humming with a look of discontent at him, Seppuku could see what Earl was trying to do, and decided to side with him, "Yes, go get a movie with Earl, you need to see that the world isn't a bad place."

She gasped and looked over at him, "B- but Seppuku!"

"That's an order, or I'll kick your ass back onto the streets."

She gasped at him, then sighed as she dipped her head, "Yes sir…"

Earl put his hand on her shoulder, "We'll pack all the guns we could possibly need, it'll be okay."

She looked him in the eyes, then nodded at him trustingly. _We die together…_ she reminded herself.

Many minutes later, Chiya was driving the _Red Dove_ with Earl in the back seat, she didn't feel safe driving the _Purring Kitten_ alone. Earl had several assault rifles and rocket launchers all over him, he felt this was necessary if it would help her calm down. Chiya was silent and had her hands trembling on the wheel constantly, she was scanning the road for any signs of the _Blood Hawk_ or _Stalin's Might II_. She was very set on the idea that Black Shadow had sent the two to find her immediately after her escape.

"I wonder where Black Shadow is right now…" she muttered aloud.

Earl pulled up his tracking device, "He's around Magica and Mysteria right now, but not even close to the planets."

Chiya gasped and looked back at him, "H- how do you know that?"

He smirked at her, "I taped up your tracking device and threw it in that room remember? Your device is still there signaling a distress call right now, so I _always_ know where the ship is."

Chiya widened her eyes at him, "What are you waiting for!? Give it to the Federation!"

"Seppuku told me not to."

"Well, who cares!"

Earl nodded at her, "We'll show them this in time, but I have a plan…"

Chiya sighed at him, but decided to trust that he had a better idea. She looked back at the road as they were now entering the Upper City, "Where do I go?"

"Take a left at the intersection, then head towards the Federation HQ, the video store is right across from it."

Another few minutes later, Chiya and Earl entered a moderate sized store. Earl decided that an easy way to make her happy, would be to finally use his promise to watch a movie with her. She looked around the store nervously then unrolled her sleeves, hiding her massive amounts of cuts from view. Earl rolled them back up immediately against her will.

"Don't feel ashamed of those or anything, you should look at those cuts as a war trophy-don't look at them in shame."

I guess these do prove that I value my friends greatly…

She nodded at him, "What kind of movie are we getting?"

Earl was planning on getting a war movie, but was now thinking that this would be a bad genre to watch after such an experience. He exhaled and looked away from her, "Whatever you'd like: romance, comedy, adventure-you pick."

Chiya managed to smile at him, "Are there any movies about the Korean Civil War?"

Earl widened his eyes at her, "Yo- don't you think a war movie would be a bad call?"

She shrugged at him, "I ju-"

"Actually, I have a movie you should watch by yourself, go find a movie for _us_ to watch though, that's not war related."

Chiya nodded and walked away from him, Earl exhaled and looked at a specific part of the video store. Chiya immediately looked around the comedy and romance parts of the store-mostly at the comedy. She found herself constantly glancing over at the romance section, she was simply a fan of war and romantic films-but he was condoning a war movie, and she didn't know what kind of comedy film she could get that would be interesting. She gritted her teeth nervously as she continued to stare at the romance section. _It could seriously screw things up if I get a romantic film, I really shouldn't…_ she then widened her eyes, _But why would he support me getting one if he didn't want to watch a romantic film?_ She now had to wonder if he secretly supported her getting a romance film, it _was_ the first thing in his list of suggestions. Chiya was mostly scared that she may get emotional during the film and make the mistake of making a move on Earl, she herself didn't quite know whether she actually supported this or not. She lowered her eyebrows, now holding a romance film, _This could easily ruin a friendship if I'm not careful…_ her eyes were quivering fearfully at the film, she was unsure if she had romantic feelings for Earl or not, or whether he did towards her-this was complicating her decision. _I mostly only watch romance films though, I'm not necessarily wanting it because…_

She then held her forehead while groaning, "I'll just act like I'm not interested in the movie at first, unless I see him begin to enjoy it…"

"Find anything?" he asked.

She jolted up startled at his sudden appearance, "Oh, uh, yes."

He then looked up at the section they were in, realizing that they were standing in a romance section. He immediately lowered his eyebrows with his tongue out somewhat, then looked down at her with his eyes closed, "Ah, romantic film, no problem, I like those too…"

Chiya exhaled in relief, "Oh, thank God, I've really only watched and read romantic things, so it's my favorite genre."

Earl shrugged at her, "I much prefer war films, but romance always makes a better story-only I don't usually watch purely romantic stuff…"

Chiya nodded, "They're great," she then looked down at the video he was holding, "What's that movie?"

Earl sighed slowly, handing it to her, "This is a very popular movie about the Korean Civil War."

She nodded her head as she looked at the cover, then widened her eyes at something-a man in a brown coat. She looked up at him with a shocked look, "Wh- who's the main character of this?"

Earl slowly grinned at her, "A deranged, power-mad, tank commander named Earl Bendek."

She gasped loudly, looking back down at the film, "Screw the romantic film, I want to watch this with you!"

Earl shook his head negatively, "I'll never watch that filth again, but I think you should-to see how I'm demonized back in my country."

She gasped again, then noticing that the man portraying Earl on the cover had a very maniacal look on his face, she could tell that Earl was going to be some kind of villain in this film.

"You'd think I was excited when I heard that there was a movie based around my travels, but I was very offended at how they wrongly portrayed me."

Chiya nodded and walked towards the counter to pay for the films, Earl followed her to the counter.

"Just these two," she said placing both films down.

The person in charge initially gasped at the sight of her cuts, Chiya momentarily began to unroll her sleeves again in response-but Earl stopped her once again.

"You're the girl that's all over the news!"

She silently nodded, "Yes, I am."

The man smirked at her, "Well you're one brave woman, I'm the manager here and I'd be more than happy to let you take these for free."

Chiya and Earl both smiled at him, Chiya gave him a thumbs up, "Thanks! This is the man who saved me from Black Shadow yesterday," she said pointing at Earl.

"Well you two enjoy the movies, and please get better!"

It was as if Chiya was suddenly losing her dark feeling, rather she was now becoming proud of what she did, "We will, thank you."

Earl had a pleased look at her, realizing that the key to making her feel better would be to make her feel proud of herself for staying strong. The two then walked out of the video store, preparing to head back to base.

Hours later, Seppuku was sitting at his desk on the computer, looking at more articles about Chiya-many news articles were now branching off into different things about her, like her new career as an F-Zero pilot. Seppuku was somewhat pleased for her that she was getting such a good start with the community, her act of bravery was inspiring to many-giving her a good start with the F-Zero fans. Seppuku was still angered at her desire to align herself with Captain Falcon and the Federation, but felt that this would indeed be a good strategy to taking out Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz.

Earl walked into his office moments later, his coat was off for once-simply in his white T-Shirt, "Hey, do we have any soda?"

Seppuku looked up at him puzzled, "Soda? That's new, you usually come to me asking for beer."

Earl sighed, "Well, Chiya doesn't want me drinking during the movie."

"Letting her run your life as usual…"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Considering I'm doing this alone with her, I don't want to look like a drunken idiot, she doesn't control me."

Seppuku grinned at him, "Another horror film?"

Earl dipped his head down slowly, "Uh, no, not quite…" Seppuku rubbed his chin wondering what he picked, "She picked a romantic film."

Seppuku put his fingers together, "Oh boy, glad I'm not watching with you two, things will get awkward fast."

Earl grunted nervously, "No-o, it'll be fine…"

"So you're prepared to kiss her if necessary?"

Earl widened his eyes immediately, "Uh, that probably isn't what this is anyways..!"

Seppuku chuckled at him, then leaned over while digging inside of a drawer, "I use soda for target practice, I'm guessing they're not expired."

Earl grabbed the pack of soda from his hands and began walking away from him, "Thanks."

Chiya was in her room brushing her hair and painting her fingernails quickly, she was now wearing her usual grey shirt and purple shorts again-no longer fearing to expose her scars to people. Chiya was practically all fine now, but Earl knew the best way to seal the deal, would be to keep the movie night fun and with snacks-an enjoyable night would likely fix everything else. She was making sure that her hair was perfectly straight and soft, and bringing color to her fingernails for once. She had a smile on her face as she worked on her beauty, Mauser leapt up near her as she worked on her hair.

"This is going to be a fun night Mauser, just me and Earl, watching a…"

She then widened her eyes and looked down at her hands, she was somewhat stunned at the fact that she was making herself look presentable. _Nothing unusual about wanting to be pretty…_ she thought to herself. She lowered her eyebrows nervously and continued to brush her hair, _Girls are suppose to look pretty, which is why I'm doing this…_ She looked over at Mauser with a distressed look.

"Cats like to look good too…"

Chiya was constantly battling herself, part of her knew that she was only doing this for Earl, but the other part of her denied this. She angrily shut her eyes and brushed her hair more roughly, "Earl's a great friend…"

…with nice hair…

She growled at herself, then decided to ultimately wipe off her fingers-instantly removing the paint off her fingernails. She angrily threw her head down, placing both her hands on her head in anger. _This movie night was a terrible idea, why was I so persistent before on having this!?_ Mauser was staring at her with an intrigued look, Chiya was shaking her head constantly-then exhaled.

"Okay, I'll just act bored until he appears to be interested in the movie…"

She then stood up and walked out the door, getting a fake look of excitement on her face. Things were turning around quickly, Chiya was the one who was starting to condemn the movie, while Earl was the one actually putting effort into getting the party started. She walked over to his room slowly, licking her lips nervously as she took a step inside. Earl was placing soda and snacks around the cream colored couch, he already had the movie ready to play. Chiya's eyes began to quiver fearfully, _I'm such an idiot, why didn't I just pick a damn comedy…_

"You know, the more I think about it, the more I feel stupid for condemning this, I think it could be a blast finally watching something with a more mature friend," said Earl.

Chiya rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Ye-eah, do you think Seppuku would want to watch too?" she proposed.

Earl laughed at her, "A romance? Yeah, sure, he'll do that as soon as he's done baking a cake and putting on his dress," he said sarcastically.

Chiya nodded at him slowly, then took a seat on the chair Seppuku was previously in. Earl walked over and turned off the lights, then noticed that she was going to sit away at a chair instead. He raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, then leapt onto the couch with a soda in his hand.

"What are you doing over there? The snacks are over here."

Chiya widened her eyes, "I- I'll just walk over and get something later…"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "Nonsense, just come over here," she gritted her teeth fearfully, beginning to tremble somewhat; she then fell onto the far end of the couch with a fearful look, "Are you okay?"

Chiya shot back a startled look, "Yes, I'm good."

Earl grinned at her, "Hope you're not afraid of romance films too…"

About an hour later, both were watching the movie without any problems, Chiya now had a fairly happy look on her face. Earl appeared to be interested in the movie, so she calmed down a little more and eventually got closer to him and was now laying back now with a soda in her hand. Earl appeared to be following the story, but Chiya's constant overreactions were leaving her clueless what was going on in the film, therefore she was just happy to be spending time with her friend. She carefully looked up at him, who had the slightest smirk on his face as he watched, knowing that he wasn't feeling uncomfortable made Chiya feel much better.

"This is kind of girly, but not too bad-seems to have a good conflict going…"

Chiya nodded her head at him, "I've been having a hard time following this story."

"We can stop if you want, I can just watch the rest of this alone another time."

She shook her head negatively, "No, it's fine."

Earl looked down at her leg, smiling at the scars he could see, "I guess I owe you even more for not ratting us out, you really are a hero you know."

Chiya silently chuckled, "We'll call it even, since you _did_ come alone to save me," she pattered her knee gently, "Not to mention, you saved my knees."

Earl sat back some more and grinned proudly, "I would've came even if I knew it was Black Shadow's ship, so we're both brave."

Chiya gritted her teeth and set down her soda, putting her hands together nervously again. Earl smirked at her, "Did I mention that I'm getting a part-time job soon?"

Chiya shook her head negatively, "No, why?"

"Well, I decided someone needs to bring money into this place, I'd be glad to pay you and Seppuku," she smiled at his generosity, both were always helping each other out so much, "Not to mention I need the money to pay for dates, girls don't exactly find poor men very attractive."

Chiya widened her eyes at this, she could then realize the truth of it all-she indeed was becoming jealous whenever he brought up his many girlfriends.

"I see…"

"Quite frankly, I'm always surprised someone like you doesn't get out more-I mean, you're an F-Zero racer now, you can practically date anyone you want."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows in frustration, _What's he doing? Why is he trying to turn this into something…_ she was getting a fuzzy feeling inside, but was refraining from doing anything boneheaded.

"I mean, as long as you don't pick some abusive asshole, I guess don't do what I do, try finding someone at the café or something-not a bar."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "I don't- I only had one boyfriend before, and I already said what happened after prom night…"

"Well that's a jerk who just wants sex right away, try to avoid those kinds of people."

She closed her eyes in frustration and began to grind her teeth, _I feel like something's built up to this moment, but I just don't know what to do, would I look like an idiot?_ She opened her right eye and looked up at him, who was now watching the movie again, _He did try kissing me months ago in the garage, and he hit on me in the bar when we first met…_

He chuckled at the sight of something on the movie, but Chiya was way too distracted to look away from him. _He's just so nice to me, and never gives up on me…_ Chiya found that her hand began to wobble constantly, she looked down at his hand with an intense stare. _Don't do it, don't do it…_

"Oh yeah, you did something great with your hair, it looks so smooth today."

She widened her eyes and nearly gasped, then threw her hand onto his. He immediately responded by widening his eyes, slowly looking at her-she was quickly closing in towards his face. _I can't hold it in any longer…_ she thought preparing to finally kiss him. Earl's eyes were quivering at her as she got closer, but ultimately decided to retract away from her slowly-avoiding the kiss. He then launched himself up quickly, "Uh, I'll be right back, stay here."

Chiya gasped with very wide eyes as he quickly left his room, Chiya began to whimper as she stared at the door, "Oh my God, what did I do!?"

She grabbed her face with both hands and began to shake constantly, finding her move on him a foolish thing to do-she was just caught up in the moment.

Earl was standing in front of the sink, wiping water over his face with a look of shock, he now realized that Seppuku was on the ball with what was going to happen. Earl was shaking his head negatively, he was more frustrated with himself than Chiya, finding this his fault.

"Dammit, I must have crushed her heart now…" he muttered aloud.

He looked at himself in the mirror with a look of distress, _I'm fine going that far with her, but if we went steady, I'd have to give up my love life for good-she'd never let me go…_

Earl contemplated which path he would choose, but ultimately came up with his decision. He got a serious look on his face and exited the bathroom, walking back to his room. He now knew that he should have put more thought into what could have happened as a result of watching a romance with a female-but he merely assumed that it wouldn't go anywhere. He walked back into his room with a look of bravery.

"I'm ba-"

But she was gone.

Earl stood still and looked around the room for her, the movie was still playing and the lights were off, but she had vanished from the room. He then turned around towards her door, immediately running towards it. But he immediately found that it was locked. He gasped in horror at this, realizing that she locked it on _him_. Earl shook his head negatively with his mouth somewhat opened, it would be very tricky fixing Chiya this time. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, before walking towards the kitchen slowly.

"I need a beer…"

To be continued…


	16. Lap 15

==Lap 15=

A day had passed, and Chiya had let her emotions get ahead of her-wanting to be more than friends with Earl Bendek. Earl had retreated from her before she could kiss him, leaving her to believe that he wasn't interested in her, he had retreated to the bathroom to contemplate what he would do-only to find that Chiya escaped to her bedroom, locking the door on him. Now Chiya finds herself confused and sad, not understanding why she had suddenly felt the urge to warm up to Earl. She still had her door locked, isolating herself silently in her room with the TV on all day.

She was crunched up holding her knees under her blankets, for the first time ever-she was afraid of Earl, and felt the need to hide herself from him. She couldn't risk going to the _Purring Kitten_ because he was commonly around the garage, and could possibly come face-to-face with him on accident. Chiya felt crushed mainly because she was afraid that she complicated their friendship by doing this, she was so certain that he felt the same way that she did, but at this point she believed that it was the movie that caused her to do this. She was petting Mauser under her blanket with her, staring aimlessly at the TV screen, the news was still all about her, the question most reporters had on TV-where was she now?

"Under my blankets about to piss myself…" she answered aloud.

The fear of being captured by Black Shadow was no longer the main thing on her mind, she was now just thinking about what Earl thought of her right now; not to mention, he had likely approached Seppuku about this, meaning Seppuku would likely pick a side in the issue.

Why, why, why, why…

she thought over-and-over. She found that of all the days, this was the one that her eyes were watering the most, even more than when she was being tortured-she still didn't cry.

Suddenly her biggest fear had happened-a few knocks on her door. She widened her eyes and gasped, immediately hiding under her blankets while trembling. _Oh God, oh God…_

"Hey Chi', are you alright?" asked Earl.

Chiya's eyes began to water as she was finally being confronted by Earl, but she had no plans of letting him in, let alone respond to him. _Make him go away…_

Earl was now tapping on her door patiently for a response, but she was refusing to give one. Chiya simply shook her head defiantly, ignoring him could only further separate their friendship, but she was too scared to speak with him. He then knocked a few more times, she clearly wasn't fooling him-but he did have to fear if she killed herself.

"Chiya, I'm certainly not angry-or even disturbed for that matter, we just need to talk about this."

Chiya let out a groan of despair, but then realized that she was too loud, quickly covering her mouth. Earl growled in frustration upon hearing her groan, "You're not going to feel better until you confront the person-hiding from them certainly isn't getting you closer to a relationship…"

Chiya continued to shake her head in frustration, but momentarily got the strength to get up. She was still wrapped up in her blanket as she walked, moving towards the door slowly. She was trembling greatly with her teeth clenched as she began to reach towards the doorknob, she could tell that Earl was still standing behind the door. _He'll respect me more if I just face him now…_ she thought bravely. She grabbed the doorknob and unlocked it, slowly turning it; but just as she began to open it, she closed it again and locked it. She dropped onto the floor with her hands on her face sadly as she sat against the door.

Earl grunted as soon as the door shut and locked again, now he knew that he was being ignored-only he could tell that she was troubled, not angry. He put his hand roughly against the door as he looked down, he could see the shadow from her body coming from under the door-meaning she was sitting against it.

"I can tell you've never had a boyfriend before then."

Chiya gasped and widened her eyes at this, finding this somewhat insulting to her. She shook her head negatively and held her face again, she wanted him to stay, yet she wanted him to leave._ I'm so embarrassed…_ she thought angrily. She held her knees with a very sad look, not only was Earl her best friend-but to some extent he was a role model to her. She grabbed the doorknob again and jerked at it, but then dropped her hand again-she just couldn't find the strength to confront him.

Earl sighed and finally took a step back, rubbing his forehead with a look of discontent.

"Bendek, what's wrong?" asked an approaching Seppuku.

Chiya widened her eyes and shook her head constantly, _Oh God, I don't wanna' hear this!_

"Chiya's kind of hurt right now, because I was stupid and retreated to the bathroom as she tried kissing me."

No, no, no, just let it go!

Seppuku chuckled at Earl, "When was this?"

Earl sighed, "Last night…"

Seppuku then stomped loudly, "Ha! I told you this would happen!"

Chiya shook her head constantly, _No mo-ore, I'm sorry!_

"-and you didn't just take the damn kiss like a man?"

Earl growled back at him slowely, "I wanted to-I wish I could, but I can't!"

Chiya opened her eyes and gasped, it felt as if she was just then wrapped in a blanket of reassurance. _He didn't look like he wanted to…_

"I love picking up girls-sexy girls, I'll admit it's a bad hobby I have, and I wasn't about to give this up, not yet…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly at this, looking down at her breasts for a moment.

"Then what was the damn problem?"

Earl swallowed nervously, "The girls I hit on-I don't want to spend my life with, I just love hearing their compliments on dates about me, a girl like Chiya isn't sexy in my eyes-she's cute, adorable, and fun to be around."

"I don't think she's very fun…" Seppuku countered.

Chiya's eyes began to water, but she couldn't walk away now-she had to keep eavesdropping.

"If I kissed Chiya, then she'd expect us to become a couple, and I would only date a cute and fun girl if I was considering marriage."

Chiya put her hand over her mouth and gasped, a shock going down her spine.

"Lets face it, me and Chiya are perfect for each other, if I had kissed Chiya, that would have basically established that we'd be getting married, because we'd never break up-but I'm not prepared to give up my cruel hobby of going on dates with these women, not yet."

Chiya dropped her hands to the floor, shaking her head in disbelief, _He would consider marrying me?_

Seppuku began to laugh at him, "You would marry Flower?"

Earl smirked and shrugged at him, "Dunno, _maybe_, she _is_ a special person to me…"

"You two are both morons, it would be a perfect match…"

Chiya's eyes were glimmering with water, a very clear smile on her face. She then switched on the lights to her room and pranced back to her bed somewhat happily. The thought that someone like Earl would consider marrying her brought hope back to her life within seconds.

"Chiya Bendek…" Seppuku joked with a laugh.

Earl broke his smile and began to walk away, "Yeah well, she's not talking to me right now, so I don't know what'll happen…"

Chiya hadn't heard this part, as she was now away from the door and back on her bed. She had sad looking eyes, but a smile none-the-less, she was still faced with the problem that she would need to confront Earl. She laid back on her bed with her hair spread out, she rubbed her forehead and began to silently chuckle to herself. One of the major goals she was assigned when she first came to Mute City, was to eventually start a family away from Mysteria-Chiya was the one who would bring fortune to the Flower name; she was overjoyed to know that someone would marry her, whether it's Earl or not, he proved to her that she is indeed a likeable person. She frowned again at the thought of confronting him, something she would have to do in the coming hour or so-despite this discovery, she still deeply regretted her actions the previous night.

Chiya looked over at her TV, the news was displaying another image of Earl escorting her away from the media. She heard the name; _Armored Death Sentencer_ on the news, which immediately reminded her of something. She looked over at the mirror she was doing her hair at, and found that the movie he had wanted her to watch was still there-along with the paint for her nails. She stood up and approached the mirror, the paint was only a reminder of how boneheaded she was-trying to impress Earl through looks. She picked up the movie and walked towards her TV again, she was now curious as to how Earl was depicted in this movie, as he claimed it was disgusting and full of exaggerated lies. _Fine, I'll confront him after I watch this, then at least I can start off the conversation the way I want to…_ She put the disc in and went back to her bed, she didn't even consider getting snacks or anything-assuming that it would be a good war movie, but not a morally good.

About half an hour later, Chiya was staring at the screen in awe, she felt that the actor they got to play Earl Bendek looked too different and sounded wrong. She found that up to this point, they were foreshadowing him as some kind of demented and corrupt battalion leader-he wasn't honorable at all, unlike the real Earl Bendek.

"But sir! Many citizens treasure this forest as a place for peace and happiness, we can't just roll through it," the driver of Earl's tank countered.

Earl let out a maniacal grin and slammed his hand down, "If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked-quite frankly, I don't give a crap what happens to that damn forest!"

Chiya held her chin with a puzzled look, _He never told me about this tale…_ she thought suspiciously. For the most part she could make out the difference between exaggerations and truth, but she wasn't finding much to compliment about the movie, it seemed centered on demonizing Earl as some kind of evil man-likely an attempt to appease the Manchurians after he took down the tower, as this put Earl in hot water, not the government. _Most people who watch this will believe this is how he's like, no wonder he won't go back to Korea…_

About forty minutes later, she finally got to the part in the movie she was waiting for-and likely the part Earl wanted her to see most of all.

Earl and ten other tanks all positioned along a cliff towards a Manchurian city with a very tall standing tower. Earl had a devious grin on his face as he looked at the city from afar in his tank, his fingers tapping in excitement for them to pull off the offensive. He lifted up a communication device with a gleeful smile and evil looking eyes.

"My tanks are almost organized, we can pull off the glorious attack at any waking moment…"

"Negative, command now wants you to fall back and reorganize with the other tank battalions."

Earl growled angrily into the device, "Fool! Why would we do that? The man in charge of their armies organization is in that town right now, we could take him out right now…"

"We can't confirm that he is in the city, this may just be a ruse they're playing on us so we'll reveal ourselves-it could be a trap, therefore we're not going to risk anything."

Earl lowered his eyebrows angrily, turning off the device with a burning look of hatred. He licked his lips and looked up at the tower in the city, beginning to smirk again at the sight of this.

"Then we won't drive into the city at all…" he said with a large smile.

"Orders sir?" the tank communicator asked.

Chiya's heart was already beating, she could already see major differences between this movie and Earl's story. Earl had told her about the long hesitation he took to make his decision to strike, this movie depicted his decision as more of a sly move that he clearly supported happily.

"Load heavy explosive shells and bring down that damn tower…"

The communicator gasped at him, "B- but that will endanger hundreds of lives!"

Earl began to chuckle as he looked up at him, "Do I look like I care? A Manchurian is a Manchurian, inferior to us Koreans…"

The communicator shook his head negatively, "Are you insane?"

Earl flailed his hand into the air excitedly, "But let's get realistic! This isn't at all about the military staff member hiding in that city," the communicator widened his eyes at him fearfully, "This is simply to piss them off, strike fear into the bastards! It'll be glorious destruction!"

Chiya's eyes were quivering at the movie in awe, she too was becoming highly offended by this movie. She had no way of telling if Earl was possibly lying to her about the struggle he had on this mission, but she could tell enough that Earl would never actually act like this-he wasn't an evil person.

"There's no way we're doing this sir, I refuse!"

Earl then aimed a handgun at the communicator with a grin, "That would be treason…"

The communicator grunted at him, then hesitantly turned back to his headset and began issuing the attack order to the other tanks.

"This is a bunch of bull…" Chiya said angrily.

"Fire!"

The tanks began shelling the tower, Earl stood with his hair blowing in the air with a look of joy, "Fire again!"

The tanks continued to fire explosive rounds at the tower, momentarily making it collapse, leaving the city blanketed in a large mushroom cloud of smoke, dust, and debris. Earl held his hands out at the sight of this and began maniacally laughing, his hands trembling with a look of insanity and joy.

A few minutes later Chiya put the movie back in her hands, she was staring at it in amazement, _That wasn't fair at all, and it has a five star rating!_ she thought angrily. Chiya was still deeply crushed by Earl, but now felt that this both calmed her down and gave her something to kick off a conversation with. At this point, she was planning on pretending as if the whole romance situation was no big deal to her-only it was. She held the movie up and looked at her door nervously, she bit her lip as she was finally going to leave her room for the first time since the past night. _I already collected Earl's opinion on the matter, there's no need to expand on that-just try keeping the conversation away from what happened…_ she thought as she grabbed her doorknob cautiously.

She opened her door and found that neither Earl or Seppuku were in the vicinity, then she looked forward with a look of distress-Earl's door was closed. She was still holding the movie, the war movie was her only chance of breaking the ice with him-not wanting to make things even more awkward by jumping right into the real issue. She breathed in bravely and opened his door very quickly.

"So I jus-"

He wasn't in his room, it was completely dark and still had the snacks and beverages near the couch; her soda was still exactly where she had left it before she tried to kiss him. Chiya's eyes began to quiver fearfully at the soda, as it immediately brought back bad memories of the awkward moment that followed. She quickly closed the door, assuming that he was either with Seppuku in his office, or in the garage. She assumed that he was working in the garage, now that the Grand Prix was so close, both the _Red Dove_ and _Purring Kitten_ would need to be in superb shape; which is why Seppuku felt that he needs Earl in the organization.

Chiya now approached the door leading to the garage, trembling as she looked at the doorknob. _That stupid soda can…_ she thought angrily, seeing her untouched soda had somewhat brought the fear back to her. She breathed in again nervously, then opened the door quickly but quietly. She widened her eyes and gasped at the sight of Earl, he was underneath the _Purring Kitten_ working on something with a tool, he didn't appear to have any idea that she entered the garage. She looked back at the door quickly, wondering if she could retreat back to her room without being seen, but she decided to just get it over with. She very slowly and quietly approached his legs, then raised her foot carefully-kicking him softly. He then jolted up startled, hitting his head against the bottom of the _Purring Kitten_ loudly.

"Gah! What the Hell Seppuku!"

Chiya gasped and took a step back, now she was afraid that he would start off angry at her because of this. Earl then slid out of the _Purring Kitten_ with an angry look and ruffled up hair, but momentarily grunted in shock at the sad looking Chiya. The two stared at each other motionlessly, Chiya constantly moving her eyes away from him.

"Oh, hello Chiya."

She swallowed nervously and raised up the movie, "I just finished watching this movie."

Earl rubbed his forehead as he stood up slowly, "Uh, oh yeah, what'd you think of it?"

"Terrible, I can't believe they can just do that to your image…"

"Yep, and the movie will always exist, making me look like some kind of cruel monster everywhere I go."

She dipped her head down, "I'm so sorry…"

Earl smirked at her, "I for the most part find it funny now, because it's so absurd how they depict me in it, it's like I'm the spawn of Satan or something."

"Why don't you sue the makers of this?"

Earl began to laugh at her sarcastically, "Who would possibly defend me in that case?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily, "That's not fair…"

He gave her a thumbs up, "That's why I live in Japan now, not as many people recognize me here."

You're doing good Chiya…

she thought with a smile.

"What'cha doing with the Purring Kitten?"

Earl grinned and turned around, "Oh, well I had a good idea an hour ago, basically I'm trying to adjust the airbrakes of your machine, if I do this correctly, it should let you glide even faster in midair-which would be helpful for large jumps like on Aeropolis for example."

Chiya puckered her lips excitedly, "Are you succeeding?"

Earl widened his eyes and stared at her puckered lips, he wasn't the only one fretting about what had happened, "Uh…" he then blinked a few times and looked away, "No, not exactly…"

She put her finger on her lips, "Alright I'm interested, how can I help?"

Earl continued to stare at her lips, she was dragging her finger slowly-awaiting for a response, he lowered his eyebrows and nodded, "I think you could help me, you could use some advanced airbrakes for the first race of the Grand Prix."

"Why's that?"

He grinned and stood tall in front of her, "Fire Field, full of jumps, and obstacles," he then narrowed his eyes at her, "You realize it's going to be even more hot than Sand Ocean there, right?"

Chiya gasped and took a step back, "Wha- how can it be hotter!? Sand Ocean was a frying pan!"

Earl shrugged at her with a smile, "You wanted to be an F-Zero racer, now you are," he then chuckled silently, "I'm your manager…"

Chiya waved her finger at him with a grin, "Don't get too egoistic, you hardly helped me through that evaluation…"

"I was comforting you, you were about to break down in a cold panic."

She shrugged at him, "Well, you are a very comforting person."

He then dropped his smile and got a serious look on his face, glancing away from her momentarily, "So, about last night…"

Chiya widened her eyes and leapt back in response, a very unrealistic smile on her face, "Oh that? I was just caught up by the movie, it was a stupid thing for me to do, I haven't even thought about that since last night!" she blurted out quickly.

He looked at her with a twitching eyebrow, "Um, okay…" he then rubbed the back of his head, "It's just, you were ignoring me and had your door locked…"

Bloody Hell!

she yelled in her mind. "I was busy watching the Korean movie!"

Earl continued to stare at her, easily noticing that her smile was completely fake, and that she was trembling greatly. He had a look of doubt on his face, but grinned at her momentarily, finally shutting his eyes and shrugging.

"Whatever you say…"

Far away in an unexplored region of space, Black Shadow's ship roamed slowly in the darkness of utter nowhere. Black Shadow was in his throne room with his arms crossed together, Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz were standing down a fleet of stairs looking up at him.

"I called you two fools in here to introduce you to our newest member…" Black Shadow said with a grin.

Blood Falcon had a displeased look, "What's wrong with me and Blaskovitz?"

"Everything, but don't worry-our new accomplice isn't nearly as strong as any of you."

Brock raised an eyebrow at him, "Where is this accomplice you speak of?"

Black Shadow clapped his hands two times, calling in the new member. Moments later, footsteps could be heard coming down the center of the large room, Blood Falcon and Brock both turned around intrigued. A woman was approaching Black Shadow in very long black boots that went slightly past her knees, black shorts, a black turtleneck shirt, and a black stock hat. She had blazing red eyes and black hair, bangs covering her eyes very similarly to Chiya Flower-because she was Chiya Flower.

She had a devious smirk on her face as she bowed to Black Shadow, "Ready for orders!"

Blood Falcon gasped, even though cloning Chiya Flower was his idea in the first place. Black Shadow began to chuckle as he looked down at the woman, "This is _Dark Rose_, identical clone of the weak Chiya Flower," Dark Rose smiled at him with very vampiric-like teeth, "I never envisioned myself inserting a female into my army-but I'm very content with this one."

Dark Rose chuckled at him, "You'll find that I'm the superior Chiya Flower," she then dragged a sharp dagger along her tongue, "-and soon I'll be the only Chiya Flower!" she said with a look of insanity.

Blood Falcon slowly came up from behind her with puckered lips, starting to observe her more closely. He was sliding around her constantly, finding several things interesting about her. Dark Rose slowly broke her grin and got a look of annoyance as Blood Falcon continued to leap around her constantly. He finally stopped and stood to her side with a grin, then slapped her rear.

Rose immediately growled angrily in response, slapping Blood Falcon across the face with a swift movement. Blood Falcon's face was knocked aside, he then began to laugh as he looked back up at Black Shadow.

"She's perfection!"

"But she's far from powerful, she could only kill Flower at best…" Black Shadow said with a stern look.

Dark Rose grunted at him, "Lies! I'll kill Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku with ease!"

Blood Falcon scratched his neck, "Earl? Who's that?"

Black Shadow nodded, "The mechanic, Dark Rose has every memory that Chiya has, therefore Rose knows exactly where they operate."

Rose grinned mischievously, "That's right, I could even go back to Mysteria and kill her family she cares so deeply about-if you wish…"

Blood Falcon slowly wrapped his arm around her neck, "She doesn't sound weak, she sounds amazing!"

Rose slapped his hand away from her with an annoyed look, then looked back up at Black Shadow.

"That won't be necessary, all I care about is Seppuku-just kill Chiya and the mechanic if you wish."

Dark Rose bowed to him, "When do I leave?"

Black Shadow stood up quickly, "Now! Go! Find their location and kill!"

Rose blinked at him constantly with a smile, "Sounds fun…"

She then began to sprint out of the room laughing with a playful look, moving at a superhuman speed. The three watched as she left the room, Brock momentarily turned towards Black Shadow.

"You really think she can bring Seppuku back?"

Black Shadow shook his head, "We're just playing with them, if we attack enough, their morale will shatter…" he then began walking down the fleet of stairs, his cape dragging across the steps as he moved, "We need more time anyways if we're to pull off our master plan…"

"How long?" asked Blood Falcon.

Black Shadow tapped his chin as he approached him, "Oh, maybe next year-so make sure you win this Grand Prix, let the universe whimper as we win the _final_ Grand Prix."

He then began to chuckle as he grabbed Blood Falcon's shoulder, "Nobody will be left alive to see the conclusion of next years Grand Prix…"

To be continued…


	17. Lap 16

==Lap 16=

Two days later, Chiya and Earl returned to their usual friendly ways towards each other, as if Chiya hadn't even been bothered by what happened. She stuck with the excuse that the movie is what convinced her to make a move on him, but Earl wasn't quite convinced-Chiya would always stomp the conversation down if this was brought up, wishing to forget about that night. She was content knowing that Earl had at least considered her, as it seemed that the only thing blocking a connection between the two, was that he was still young and didn't want to give up on the dating world-as he knew dating Chiya would eventually leave to marriage. Chiya could understand this however-only she looked at it differently, rather that it was a matter of age; she was just about twenty-four, while Earl was twenty-eight, she guessed that both were too young to get this involved with each other. She decided ultimately, to let destiny pick her path, right now she wanted to focus on F-Zero again, as the Grand Prix was in less than a month.

Both Earl and Chiya were sleeping, it was far past midnight and only Seppuku remained awake at his desk. He had a large grin on his face as he clapped his hands together in joy.

"It has officially been two weeks, thank God-I'm free…" he said aloud.

It had officially been two weeks since Jody Summer contained Seppuku, unless she decided to renew the containment, he could once again roam the streets as he wished. The containment wouldn't officially be void however until the evening-as that is when Jody Summer declared it, but he was assuming that she wouldn't notice such a minor detail. He got up and grabbed his rifle, then sat back down beginning to load it with ammunition, he was looking up the barrel of the rifle happily.

"I feel like its been years since I blew a wrongdoers skull open, what a great day this is!" he said darkly.

He rubbed the barrel of his rifle with a smirk, then looked over his shoulder towards the door in shock, someone was standing right in front of him-it was Dark Rose. Seppuku gasped and stared her in the eyes, she had a maniacal grin on her face as she returned the stare. Seppuku set down his rifle and shook his head in disbelief at her-he then clapped his hands approvingly at her.

"Chiya! Now _that's_ an improvement!" Rose dropped her smile and grunted at him in surprise, "The black hair, black clothes, the long boots-you're so threatening looking now!"

She then smiled at him again, revealing her sharp teeth, "Shut up old man…"

Seppuku returned an offended look at her, "Old?"

She then turned around and went back out the door, leaving Seppuku completely puzzled. She slammed the door behind her loudly, leaving Seppuku rubbing the back of his neck, "I may have gained a few pounds, but I wouldn't say I'm old…"

Earl was sleeping silently in his bed, he never wore a shirt as he slept, because he liked reusing the same shirt two days in a row-unless he was sweating the previous day. Dark Rose then slowly opened his door, staring at him with an intense smile on her face, she licked her lips at the sight of the sleeping Earl. She slowly began to approach his bed, clenching her fists, then flexing her fingers constantly as she walked. Earl was somewhat mumbling in his sleep about the _Red Dove_, but was suddenly awakened very abruptly as Dark Rose leapt on top of him.

"Wha- what the Hell!?" he yelled in shock.

Dark Rose climbed on him, her knees on his waist, while her hands were planted on his bare chest, she still had an insane looking smile as she looked down at him-her black hair nearly touching his face.

"Wakey, wakey, mechanic!" she said in an evil playful tone.

Earl widened his eyes as he looked her in the eyes, as she was so close to him that her face was all he could really see.

"Ch- Chiya!?" She merely chuckled at him in response, "Chiya, this is one way to win a guy over, but certainly not me!"

"I don't want your affection, stupid man…"

Earl then gritted his teeth in utter fear as she brought a sharp dagger up to his face, she began to chuckle again-she could easily slit his throat at any moment, "You're melted butter…"

"Chiya what are yo-" he then gasped as he looked her straight in the eyes, her eyes were practically blood red at night time, he could also tell that her skin was much more pale than Chiya's, "Who the Hell are you..?" he whispered.

She chuckled as she poked his chin with the dagger, "A witch…"

Earl then punched her across the face and grabbed her hand quickly to stop the attack, "Kiss my ass!" he yelled loudly, tackling her to the ground.

Rose and Earl rolled on each other constantly, trying to get a superior edge on the other, both were trying to keep a hand on the dagger. Earl continued to punch her cheek, but she was smiling through every punch he landed, though she was displaying pain at this. She then threw her hand at his face and scratched him.

"Ah, what the Hell!" he yelled as she continued clawing at him.

"I've got magic hands, don't I?" she asked pushing the dagger towards him more.

Earl grabbed her other hand, then head butted her down to the floor again, he then forcibly threw his hand down at her throat, beginning to strangle him-but she did the exact same thing, only she was digging her finger nails into his skin slowly. Earl continued to moan in pain as they strangled each other, while at the same time trying to kill each other with the dagger. She stopped smiling and was barring her teeth at him like some kind of animal, Earl was trying to add pressure to his strangle as well, constantly pushing down on her throat-it was as if he were softly beating on her throat at the same time. Earl could feel himself losing energy, he needed oxygen fast or he would lose the battle for the dagger. He finally let go of her throat and reached up, grabbing his alarm clock-he then beat her face with it constantly. Momentarily she let go of him as well as she began to scream at him in agony, Earl decided to roll off of her finally, getting on her feet instead. He positioned himself in a Seoli Idong combat stance and waited for her to get up.

"Come at me!" he challenged.

She slowly stood up and wiped a stream of blood from her mouth, licking it off of her finger afterwards. She began to chuckle as she looked up at him, "Guess what mechanic?" He raised an eyebrow at her, she then entered the exact same stance, "You shouldn't have taught her your little move set, because now I know it too!"

Earl shook his head in confusion, then finally gasped in horror-easily seeing what was going on. Just at that moment, Chiya herself kicked open Earl's door holding her handgun.

"Earl! What's happening!?"

She then gasped in horror at the sight of Dark Rose, Rose turned her head towards Chiya with a mischievous grin. Chiya was trembling in horror, it was as if she were looking in the mirror.

Dark Rose bowed towards Chiya, "Konichiwa!" she greeted gleefully.

Chiya grunted at her, "Wha- huh? Who the Hell are you!?"

Rose puckered her lips at Chiya, "Oh come now, why do you get a gun and I do-on't?" Chiya's eyes were quivering nervously, but had her gun trained at her steadily none-the-less, Rose then revealed her insane smile, "Except I do!" she said instantly pulling out a Luger looking pistol.

Chiya began to fire towards her, but she began acrobatically leaping around the room with superhuman speed. Chiya didn't even seem surprised that she had some kind of power, already assuming this was Black Shadow's work. Earl bent over and grabbed the baseball bat they had used for training the other day, preparing to defend himself. Dark Rose rolled onto the floor and took a shot towards Chiya-but missed terribly. Chiya began to fire back at her, but found that her gun was out of ammo.

"Oh God!"

She then ducked down just in time and missed one of Rose's shots, she began to chuckle as she took aim at Chiya's head. She was then knocked down by a mighty smack to the head by Earl's bat, he then tackled her again and fought for control of the gun. Chiya gasped then ran up to the three, simply leaping onto both of them-it was a three-way pileup, Chiya was just grabbing onto both of them.

Seppuku then ran into the room as well, only he didn't appear very surprised to see Dark Rose. He aimed his rifle down at the three, "You two, get off of her!"

Chiya began to panic at the sight of Seppuku's rifle, she then leaped off of Earl and immediately hid behind Seppuku cowering. Earl punched Rose across the face and also ran back to Seppuku, Dark Rose quickly rolled behind Earl's bed and began to laugh maniacally. Chiya appeared more disturbed than anyone else, Earl had a look of challenge on his face as he waited for Dark Rose to reappear.

Chiya stomped her foot down loudly, "Will someone tell me, what the Hell is going o-on!?" she shouted loudly.

Everyone looked at her in shock at her loud demand-Chiya normally being a very quiet person. Dark Rose merely began to laugh at her question, leaving Chiya in a distraught state.

"If the Lieutenant would lower his rifle, I would be glad to explain…"

Chiya and Earl looked at him and shook their heads negatively-but Seppuku lowered his rifle none-the-less, "Speak," he demanded.

Dark Rose chuckled as she popped her head up from behind the bed, her teeth were biting down on the blade of her dagger as she holstered her handgun. She looked back at everyone and smiled, "My name is Dark Rose, I am a witch, and superior replica of Chiya Flower."

Chiya gasped at her, Earl nodded his head, "I had a feeling you were a clone."

She hissed at him almost like a cat, "I'm no clone, I'm a witch!" she yelled finding offense to this.

Chiya pointed her finger up, "Uh, actually, a witch is usually ugly and scary, but you look like me exactly."

Rose growled at her, then began to chuckle, "No, you look like _me_, the superior Chiya Flower!"

Seppuku began to laugh at her, "The superior Chiya Flower? What? Are you proud of that title or something?" Rose narrowed her eyes at Seppuku with a look of hatred, "Because Chiya is nothing short of a sweet girl, meaning _you_ are a sweet girl as well."

Chiya grunted at him in disagreement, "That's not true! I have a strong heart!"

Seppuku shrugged at Chiya, then looked back at Rose, "Besides, it looked like you were getting your ass kicked by these two before I came in."

Rose placed the dagger in her hands and smiled, "I was this close to killing the mechanic before she came in," she then brushed her bangs back into place-covering her eyes the exact same way Chiya did, "Black Shadow will likely punish me for failing my mission, but there's always next time!" she said happily.

Chiya shook her head in disbelief, _Does that mean she's getting the same punishment I got on their ship?_

Seppuku aimed his rifle straight towards her head again with a grin, "It was nice making your acquaintance, but I'm just gonna' have to blow your brains out now-I always thought these walls would look nice painted red…" he joked.

Chiya aimed her handgun at her as well, though all she could use was her taser until she put more ammo in her gun. Rose held her hand out towards him with a big smile, "Oh ple-ease don't kill me Lieutenant Seppuku, not without a kiss from the mechanic…"

Earl widened his eyes at this joke, "You should've done that earlier, because you'll never get that pleasure now."

She lifted her head up slightly, holding her dagger in her hand like a ninja blade, "Well, I really must be going now, thanks for having me over!"

She then somehow through the dagger straight at Seppuku, perfectly penetrating his arm and sticking it to the wall. Earl and Chiya both gasped at this, Rose simply dashed out of the room laughing with superhuman speed. Seppuku was grunting as he looked down at his hand, the dagger had pinned him right against the wall, blood was quickly dripping down the wall.

"Seppuku!" Chiya shouted as she grabbed him.

Seppuku growled as he looked up at the door, "She got away…"

Earl began to panic and quickly grabbed a medical box off out of his drawers, "Don't worry, we'll get that stitched up immediately! Chiya you hold on to the dagger!"

"Right!"

Seppuku didn't respond, nor did he seem to regard his stabbing as much of importance-he was simply wondering how this near assassination of Earl could have happened, he knew some new security measures would need to be taken…

The following morning, Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku all stood around his office somewhat panicked about what had happened. Earl managed to sleep again, but only with an assault rifle tucked in his arms-Chiya only got about four hours of sleep, she was too disturbed at the fact that she had a clone. Seppuku didn't regard sleep as an issue at all, simply working through the night on new safety measures they could possibly take to keep intruders out.

"If Dark Rose is Chiya's clone, then just like Blood Falcon-I'm sure she wants to kill her identical counterpart," Seppuku explained pointing at Chiya.

She began to whimper fearfully, "Well help me then! There's an assassin that thinks just like me."

Earl rubbed his chin while thinking, "It looks like she may have carried down some of Chiya's knowledge, she obviously found some way through the security door we already have installed."

Seppuku nodded, "I checked last night, she just entered the password to get in," he rubbed his forehead trying to think, "So how can we keep her out..?" he muttered.

The three thought about this for a few moments, before Earl snapped his fingers, "Let's dumb down the question; how do we keep _Chiya_ out of the base?"

She returned a panicked look, "What!?"

"If she's your clone, then she knows everything that you know, so all we have to do is make sure that _you_ can't get in, then we'll know that she can't either."

Seppuku grinned approvingly, "Good idea Bendek," he then looked at Chiya, "Chiya, list off every single way you know how to get in the base."

"Okay well, there's the front door, the secret garage door, and the hatch on the ceiling," she said pointing up at the hatch.

Earl grunted as he noticed something, "Shoot, that also means she knows where we hide our ship."

"We'll worry about that later, let's worry about ourselves for now."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "So how are we going to go about these entrances?"

Seppuku stood up and walked over to the whiteboard, picking up a black marker. He began to sketch out the three entrances quickly with minor artistic detail, _I wonder if he'll let me draw again…_ Chiya wondered playfully.

He pointed his finger at the main entrance door, "Bulletproof, indestructible, and computerized keypad to open it," Chiya and Earl both widened their eyes at this idea, he then pointed at the garage door, "Remove the secret switch, put a garage door controller in all of our vehicles."

Chiya looked up at the hatch above his office, wondering what he would propose for this rarely used part of the base. Seppuku stared at the hatch contemplating what to do, "I need this so I can jump rooftop to rooftop while hunting for crime, so I'm thinking of just putting a very durable lock on the hatch."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "But Seppuku, we could never afford these kinds of upgrades!"

Seppuku turned his head and smirked, "Oh?"

Earl grinned at him, "She's right, we're piss poor right now, I'd be surprised if we could even afford a durable lock."

Seppuku crossed his arms doubtfully, "Don't worry, I have someone who will finance all of this…"

Chiya narrowed her eyes slowly in suspicion, "…who?"

Jody Summer slammed her fist down, "How dare you even ask for a handout!"

The three had traveled to the Upper City and were now up in the Federation Headquarters, Seppuku claimed that Jody Summer would fund them with a little _persuasion_.

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Why not? We're on the same side, we both want Black Shadow out of the picture."

Jody began to growl at him, Dr. Stewart and Dr. Clash were in the room as well, but were not getting involved. "You run an illegal vigilante group, I can't support this, nor do I really want to for that matter," she poked Seppuku's chest hostilely, "You don't work for the Federation anymore, and I don't like what you do-in fact, I don't like _you_."

Seppuku playfully smirked at her, "Eh, come on, we had some good times Summer…"

She narrowed her eyes at him angrily, "All three of you are criminals, I should have every one of you locked up…" she then pointed at Chiya, "_You_, should be put away back on your own planet for what you did."

Chiya gasped fearfully at her, _She knows what I did!?_

Earl was staring at Chiya nervously, easily able to tell that she was offended and shocked by this hostile remark. Considering Chiya had went through so much on Black Shadow's ship, he expected Jody to be more passionate towards her. Chiya shook her head in confusion, _I thought we were friends, she was the one who gave me the combat module for the Purring Kitten…_ she thought looking into Jody's angry eyes.

"Get out of my sight you disgusting peop-"

Seppuku then grabbed her arm forcibly with a grin, "Oh no, you're going to pay for us one way or another…"

Dr. Stewart slowly moved his hand down towards his handgun, Jody returned an angry stare into Seppuku's eyes, "-or what? You'll kill me? You'd never make it out of this building alive…"

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "Please-you're going to pay us, otherwise Chiya might just have to reveal herself…" Chiya, Earl, and Jody all appeared confused at his reasoning. Seppuku began to chuckle, then looked up at her, "It'd be a shame if the same girl that caused an uproar throughout the universe after her torture, came to the media explaining how she was nearly assassinated in her sleep by Black Shadow…"

Jody gasped and began to tremble, Earl grinned as well-Seppuku was going to win the money over through means of blackmail. Chiya lowered her eyebrows at this, but had to support this none-the-less, he was using her very fiscally.

"If you that gets to the media, everyone will be storming this building in rage!" yelled Jody.

"Yep, once they realize that the Federation isn't truly protecting Chiya after such a traumatic experience, they'll realize just how at risk they truly are at."

Jody bit her finger nervously, "This isn't a joke Seppuku, if the Federation is overthrown by the people, then imperialistic planets like Mysteria and Princia will go rampant, invading whatever they wish."

Earl nodded in agreement, Chiya had a troubled look on her face at the mentioning of Mysteria being imperialistic, _We're the imperialistic ones? What's he talking about, we were taught that the Federation were imperialistic warmongers…_

Mysteria-being run by the military, enforced a strict policy of censorship when it came to foreign planet news and such. Chiya was born and raised on Mysteria, therefore was brainwashed by the government with propaganda and lies; whenever the Mysteria was in financial trouble or had disasters strike, the government would always inform the citizens that this was a result of either the Federation or the planet Princia-while they never had anything to do with Mysteria's bad economy.

"A world without the Federation?" Seppuku then began to chuckle at her, "Come on Jody, you're making me _want_ to bring Chiya up to the media…"

Jody finally sighed at him, "How much do you need?"

"That's to be determined, we need to make sure our base is completely secure from intruders-such as yourself."

Jody shook her fist at him, "That base isn't yours to begin w-" she then growled at him, "If I pay you, I expect to see you get your hands dirty-help us deal with Black Shadow."

Seppuku nodded, "Of course, as Chiya told you-he plans on annihilating all living things off Earth."

Jody rubbed the back of her head, "Keep that quiet too, we've been telling the people that he merely was planning genocide against humanity."

Seppuku laughed at her, "That's right! That's two things I can blackmail you with!"

Jody threw a sum of credits at him hostilely, "Just take the money and get the Hell out of here!"

A few hours later, Seppuku had went and established a date for some men to come and install a new security system on the front door, but he wouldn't allow them inside. Earl and Chiya were sitting on the floor of his room looking at the dagger Dark Rose had used. It was very shiny and had a very thick blade, Seppuku's blood was completely void from the blade at this point. Chiya ran her finger across the blade in awe, it was clearly some kind of assassins weapon, giving the two a good idea on what Dark Rose's purpose was in Black Shadow's army.

"You'd think waking up to see a girl mounted on him is a man's dream, but not so much when you have a blade put up to your face as well," Earl joked.

"Why did you let her climb on you?" she asked with a confused smirk.

"Well naturally, I thought she was you at first-and you can be kind of goofy like that at times."

"Yeah but, why would you let me climb o-"

"She leapt onto me Chiya, not to mention she had a dagger."

Chiya smiled, "Did I rescue you then?"

Earl chuckled at her, "Maybe-maybe not, I sure the Hell didn't know she had a gun-I probably could have beat her with Seoli Idong though."

Chiya held her cheek happily beginning to daydream, "I wonder if she and me could be friends…" Earl grunted and looked at her in confusion, Chiya giggled in response, "I mean, like, I wonder if she can be saved…"

Earl shook his head negatively, "I don't think so Chiya…"

She nodded in agreement, then got a devious smirk, "So which one of us do you think is hotter; me or Rose?" she joked.

"Her."

Chiya immediately gasped and closed her eyes with a quivering fake smile, "Wha- what? How?"

Earl shrugged at her, "She's just a plain out sexy looking person, you're more of a pretty, cute, soft person."

She launched up onto her feet angrily, shaking her fist at him, "Are you saying I should wear skimpy things!?" she asked offended.

Earl widened his eyes, "God no! Me and Seppuku both think the same about you-only he wants you to change," Chiya was somewhat shocked that they were talking about her appearance behind her back, "I like you just the way you are."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and puckered her lips and lifted up the bottom of her breasts, "Do you think my boobs are too big then?"

Earl launched up with a red face, "No! I think your boobs are perfect!" he then widened his eyes and slapped his face, before Chiya could respond, "I mean, alright, alright! I'm going to go work on the Purring Kitten more!" he said running out the door with a blazing red face.

Chiya continued to stare at the door, then had a quivering smile, before she completely burst out laughing.

Many minutes later, Chiya was doing something that was very risky and unlike her-she was on Seppuku's computer that was behind his desk. She had some headphones on and was listening to music while looking up information about Fire Field; the track she would be racing on as the first race of the Grand Prix. She was smiling happily as she looked at photos of the planet, but was frightened for the most part at how hot it looked. _I don't imagine shade will cool me off in this situation… _her eyes were quivering fearfully at the sight of all the lava surrounding the track. She scrolled down a page and found a section about people who died on this track, _Wow, this is reassuring…_ she thought sarcastically. She momentarily held her forehead and dipped her head down while moaning.

"What'll happen when the Grand Prix brings me back to Mysteria?" she muttered aloud, she then widened her eyes at the thought of something, "What if we can't get back off the planet? It was hard enough to escape from it…"

Chiya suddenly felt two hands grab her shoulders, sending her screaming instantly-but it was only Seppuku.

"What the Hell are you doing on my computer?" he demanded.

Chiya hid behind his desk, then looked up at him, "Researching!"

Seppuku growled at her, then momentarily grabbed a printed paper off his desk, "Speaking of Mysteria, I found something I thought would interest you…"

Chiya stood up straight with a surprised look, "What is it?"

He slowly handed the paper towards her, "Your mother, her names _Fiona Flower_, right?"

She immediately gasped, snatching the paper from his hands, "Yes! What about her, is she still alive?"

She began to read the paper immediately, it was simply a piece of paper that displayed a court case that occurred on Mysteria recently-Fiona Flower listed as the defender. Chiya widened her eyes as she looked over the information, it appeared to be a lawsuit over bankruptcy and debt-meaning her mother was still poor as ever. _So the military didn't kill them for my crime…_

She swatted the paper down and looked back up at him, "Where'd you get this?"

"I was snooping around for answers, then I found that on the Mysterian Law site."

Answers?

she thought nervously, she then realized that he was still trying to find out what crime she had committed by himself, she got an angry look at Seppuku, "Please stop, what I did doesn't concern you at all, it was a family related crime."

Seppuku grinned at her, "Why? You've been snooping around for clues about me since day one."

Chiya growled at him, then exhaled, "If I tell you what happened in my past, will you tell me about yours?"

Seppuku stared at her motionlessly, this was the first time Chiya had considered revealing her full story-and surprisingly not to Earl, who she envisioned telling before anyone else. Seppuku smirked at her in response to the question seconds later.

"No."

Chiya narrowed her eyes angrily at him, "Then I'm not going to stop trying to figure you out!"

She then charged out of his office in a rage, likely going to meet up with Earl again. Seppuku chuckled silently at the door.

"Nor will I…"

To be continued…


	18. Lap 17

_This is kind of a talking chapter, I apologize..._

==Lap 17=

"I feel like I'm the only one who can get things done around here…" Black Shadow muttered angrily to Blood Falcon and Dark Rose.

Both were grinning evilly at Black Shadow, Dark Rose held her hand out and laughed, "Well I did put quite the scare on them, not to mention I stabbed Seppuku in the wrist…"

"You bumbling idiot, I said capture Seppuku-destroy him, and I'll destroy you!" he threatened.

Blood Falcon chuckled at the two, "Why wouldn't you just send me to the base?"

"Because you're a dumbass and would probably kill everyone in the base-including yourself," Blood Falcon growled at this accusation, finding untruth in this.

Rose held her arms behind her neck, "Well I did get time to mingle with the mechanic and inferior Chiya…"

"What were their initial reactions to you?"

Rose tapped her feet then put them together, putting her hands behind her back, "We-ell, Seppuku complimented that I was sexy, the mechanic hit me with an alarm clock and baseball bat, and Chiya nearly wet herself…"

"Would you go far enough to say; you shook them up?"

Rose nodded happily, "Yes, they were shaken up alright!"

"Why _did_ you fail to assassinate anyone?"

She held her chin with a smirk, "Well, I wanted to play with the mechanic, but he insisted on strangling me-this woke up Chiya, which moments later brought over Seppuku…"

Black Shadow growled at her with a furious look, "You had a dagger and gun, how could you have not killed the mechanic?"

Everyone was then startled as someone began to enter the room, "Because, Bendek isn't someone to toy with-he's violent, honorable, and will protect those he loves," a man said walking towards them.

Black Shadow grunted in surprise, Blood Falcon had a blank expression on his face, Dark Rose raised an eyebrow. The man was wearing a green racer outfit with a red and white stripe going up the suit; he had grey boots, a red shoulder pad, and most noticeably, a racer helmet with a full black visor. He had a high-tech military grade handgun-just like Chiya possessed.

Black Shadow laughed at him, "Who might you be, you must be brave taking even a step towards someone like me…"

Blood Falcon grinned and held his knuckles, prepared to engage him. The mysterious man stood a short ways away from Dark Rose and Blood Falcon, his helmet made it unclear if he had any fear of them or not.

"Annyeong good sir, I go by the title name of, _Excalibur_," Black Shadow shook his head negatively at him, Excalibur bowed to him, "I come from Earth, the Pyongyang region of Korea."

"You better cut to the chase little man, I have little patience…"

Excalibur nodded, "I met Bendek in a bar during the Korean Civil War, he cheated me out of everything I had in a gambling match-then proceeded to become a well known villain in Korea," he held his handgun up in the air, immediately making Blood Falcon pull his gun out as well, "I've longed for the day that I could kill him and any of his companions."

Black Shadow still shook his head negatively, "I don't regard the mechanic as anyone of significance, so why should I care?"

Excalibur continued to stand fearlessly, "Because I know much about Bendek, which means I can get you much needed information on Lieutenant Seppuku and Chiya Flower, perhaps even kill them."

Black Shadow finally smirked at him, "Now you're at least catching my attention, but what are you wanting from me?"

"A job, I imagine you're hiring?"

Black Shadow began to laugh at him, "Your little outfit may appear threatening to some, but inside is still a man-what makes you think you are on par with someone like me or Blood Falcon?"

"-and Dark Rose!" she added gleefully.

"Shut up, answer me, Korean…"

Excalibur continued to stare at Black Shadow deviously, "I've got the equipment, weapons, martial arts, and knowledge to be an asset, at the very least you can test my abilities."

Black Shadow smiled at him, "But, I _could_ just kill and replicate you-force you into a loyal clone…"

Excalibur leapt forward and grabbed Dark Rose, looking at Blood Falcon with her in his grasp. He then opened his coat up, revealing strapped explosives.

"I have enough explosives in my coat to send this entire room into space, or maybe I don't-are we gonna' play ball or find out?"

Dark Rose grunted angrily, trying to break free-but Excalibur clearly had a superior strength over her. Blood Falcon had a grin on his face as he watched Dark Rose struggle, "Want me to help?"

"Shut up!"

Blood Falcon rubbed his chin with a grin, "Well we wouldn't want that, would we?" Excalibur turned his head towards Black Shadow again, Black Shadow then nodded, "One chance is all you get, what is it you want in return for your services?"

"Money, and an F-Zero machine-I know you possess many."

"That's it?"

Excalibur nodded, "That's it."

Black Shadow began to chuckle, "Well, this sounds like a good start to a new partnership, well-considering you actually succeed in your missions…" he said looking down at Blood Falcon and Rose.

"If you're pleased with my work over time, I'd consider becoming a permanent member of your team."

Black Shadow nodded slowly, "Perhaps, in which case I could tell you all about the master plan…"

Excalibur jolted his head up at the mentioning of the master plan-clearly intrigued.

Black Shadow chuckled at him, "Return to Earth, I'll contact you later with your first assignment…"

Excalibur saluted him quickly, "As you wish…"

Much later, Chiya and Earl were practicing Seoli Idong again, though she was condemning doing anything dangerous, like the baseball bat scenario where they both ended up on the floor in pain. Chiya challengingly looked Earl in the eyes as she slowly closed in on him, her arms were perfectly still as she moved-prepared to swing at any moment. Earl had a blank looking expression, he always hid any signs of emotion while combating, as any visible emotion could be used against him. Chiya always assumed that he was in an egoistic and calm state as she fought him, therefore always preparing for him to pull some trick on her. She licked her lips then leapt at him, grabbing one of his arms right away-Earl countered this by swerving around her back, but she let go of him in time and broke away. She gritted her teeth and spun back around towards him, immediately charging back at him and throwing her hand at his face, a distraught Earl wiped his face quickly as Chiya prepared for the finishing blow. She then rammed into him, wrapping both of her arms around him, she then began to lift him with a look of pride-but he somehow climbed right over her shoulders, sliding down her back. Chiya gasped and was quickly knocked down to the floor with one kick to the back.

"Oh, come on…" she muttered in frustration.

Earl smirked at her, "You were close, but you got ahead of yourself-expect the unexpected, even if you're holding me up."

"This isn't fair, I didn't even hit the floor completely, my breasts give me a disadvantage because I hit the floor earlier."

Earl raised an eyebrow at her with a grin, "So you're saying, your chest didn't hit the floor-only your breasts?"

"Ye-"

He then kicked her clean onto her back with a very swift movement, she widened her eyes and grunted, Earl then stepped over and looked down at her, "There, not it's fair."

She lowered her eyebrows immediately angrily, "No-o, that wasn't fair be-"

"God, stop complaining and just accept the defeat."

Chiya continued to stare at him in frustration, but nodded her head as she sat back up. Earl yawned and walked over to the couch, sitting down momentarily, "Now that I have a job again, I'll be coming home at very random times on some days."

Chiya gasped silently and turned her head at him immediately, "Job? What job?"

He smirked at her, "I'm doing odd jobs for a body shop, kind of like before I met Seppuku."

Chiya had a sad look on her face as she heard this, "Why did you get a job? Will I still get to see you much? Where are you working?" she blurted out.

"I got the job so I can pay for us three," he brushed his bangs up as he exhaled, "I'm fine working so we can all get paid somewhat, at least this way the organization won't collapse."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "You don't have to pay me, just keep it for yourself."

"Thanks, but this is no way for a young sweet girl like you to live, you need money so you can enjoy the golden ages."

Chiya had a defiant look, "I was already living in Mute City for five years with no money at all, I can cope with Seppuku's small payments."

Earl growled at her playfully, "Jesus, you're so stubborn, just take the damn handout…"

Chiya put her finger on her lip and thought for a few moments, before smiling slightly, "You know what," she then crossed her arms with an adventurous look, "If you get a job, then I'll get a job as well."

Earl narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, "Where would you work at?"

Her smile disappeared as a result of the question, "Uh, I'm not quite sure actually…"

"What are you good at?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly and dipped her head down, somewhat embarrassed, "Um…" she gritted her teeth nervously and glanced back up at him, _I'm not really good at anything, but I don't want him to know that…_ she giggled and looked back at him, "So many things, I don't even know what to pick from."

Earl saw through her lie fairly easily, he bit his lip as he thought what someone with little work experience could do, "Well, all you need is a part-time job, not full-time."

Chiya rubbed her arm nervously, suddenly feeling the urge to tackle this job-seeking mission on her own. She looked up at Earl again and was once again caught in-between his doubtful stare, making her want to confess. She dipped her head and sighed shamefully.

"I- I'm not really good at many things…" she admitted.

Earl began to walk around the room as they conversed, "I doubt that, what were you good at in school?"

"Mechanics."

Earl smirked at her, "A girl who loves working on machinery and shooting guns, you should be a catch in any guy's eyes," he put his fingers up to his face as he began to think of something for her, "You were cleaning that one day, how about you try and become a janitor somewhere?"

Chiya shot back a look of shock and disgust, "Ye-eah ri-ight!"

"Perhaps a bar or coffee shop to clean at?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "Why do you insist that I clean?" Earl chuckled at her and shook his head negatively, Chiya licked her lips slowly, "I could go for some coffee though, we should go to Bart's."

Earl snapped his fingers at the proposal, "Of course! Bart'll have much better ideas than me, he'll have you at a well paying job in no time at all."

Chiya and Earl several minutes later walked into the café together-only Bart wasn't anywhere in plain sight, the café was completely void of customers. Earl scratched his head in confusion but sat down none-the-less, Chiya leapt onto the seat next to him and began spinning around-as it was a spin around chair. The entire café was silent, yet the TV and lights were on, Chiya glanced up at the TV and noticed that the news was still talking about her-but to a much lesser extent. The news report was simply about where to locate Chiya, as she had gone _missing_ since her return.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "Why does everyone care about me all of a sudden so much?"

Earl rubbed his hand across her arm, "Because, what Black Shadow did to you was so inhumane, it's the greatest mystery to everyone how you didn't kill yourself, rather than take nearly thirty large gapped cuts."

Chiya grunted and widened her eyes, the image of her handgun on the floor instantly flashing in her mind-she _was_ highly considering suicide, as she feared that she would break otherwise and reveal to Black Shadow where Earl and Seppuku were. Chiya sighed and looked down with her eyes shut sadly.

"Well then they're being misled, because I was about sixty to seventy percent sure I would shoot myself before my second punishment," she put her arms on the counter and closed her hands together, "Therefore I'm certainly no hero."

Earl bit his lip and looked back at her, "You certainly are to us, you didn't sell out because you wanted to protect me and Seppuku, you nearly sacrificed yourself so we could live."

She silently chuckled, "Well it's not like it matters, they basically won in the end-now they have Dark Rose and they can just get information out of her for free."

"We had her on the ground, if one of us had a knife we could have easily decapitated that chick," he grinned at her with a determined look, "Next time she won't get so lucky."

Chiya looked back up at the screen, the news was now centered on a pro-basketball player that died in a head-on collision in North America. Earl looked up at the screen as well, though he didn't seem to have any interest on the topic. F-Zero was the most popular sport in the universe in this day-and-age, American football and soccer was still the top physical sports however.

Earl smirked at the screen, "Basketball, that sport drives me insane…"

"Why?"

"Just look at it, it seems easy enough getting a ball in the hoop-only it isn't," Chiya looked back at the screen as it showed clips of players playing, "-and look at the sweat they build up, sheesh…"

Chiya shrugged, "Never heard of Basketball," she then turned her head towards him with a smile, "Did you know that I was on a varsity team at my school."

"On Mysteria?"

"No-o, on the moon," she muttered sarcastically.

Earl smirked and looked at her hands, "I'm guessing volleyball?"

"Soccer."

Earl raised his eyebrows and nodded, "Good, very good…"

"It was a proud accomplishment for me, especially since the Mysterian soccer team is the best, being undefeated and all…"

Earl chuckled at her and raised an eyebrow, "Uh, that's definitely not true, Mysteria rarely made it to the Universe Cup…"

Chiya narrowed her eyes angrily at him, "Is that so? We were always told great tales of how we defeated the imperialist Magican's and Federation warmongers every year in soccer."

Earl slammed his fist down with an offended look, "I don't care what you say about Magica, but never call planets like Earth _warmongers."_

"But we were always taug-"

"Dammit Chiya, Mysteria is an isolated planet that censors the papers, news, and pretty much everything else-because they didn't want you learning the truth about the universe, that way they could brainwash you by telling you all these unreal stories!"

Chiya had an offended look on her, beginning to bite her lip, _Is this true?_ she wondered. She shook her head negatively at him, "Mysteria is my home, I'll believe whatever I want to."

"Why are you so quick to defend the people who want you arrested and possibly killed?"

"Mysteria is my home!" she repeated more loudly.

Earl sighed and looked back at his hands, "I'm not saying you should hate Mysteria, I'm just saying-be more open-minded, on this planet you have freedom, while on Mysteria you _have _to do everything the military instructs to the letter."

"Since I came from Mysteria, I probably know more about it…"

Earl smirked at her, "Like the political party of Mysteria, or the dying economy on that planet? Do you realize how bad the Gross Domestic Product is there? Or how the fiscal demands of the Mysterian government is leading pretty much everyone into poverty there?"

Chiya felt like her eyes were spinning, _What the Heck is he even talking about, what's a Gross Domestic Product?_ she asked herself being completely lost. Chiya dipped her head down shamefully, realizing that Earl could probably beat her to the ground in knowledge if he wanted to-she was in no position to make any comebacks. She began to pout and looked away from him somewhat angrily, yet a bit hurt at the same time. Earl cringed at how hostile and serious he was getting with his remarks, Chiya wasn't someone who knew much at all about history, government, or economy. He tapped his fingers across the counter constantly as he prepared to divert the conversation.

"Wanna' play soccer some time?"

Chiya slowly turned her head at him in confusion, "Huh? Where?"

"In the training room, we can move things around and set up a goal area."

"Just you and me? How would that work?"

Earl chuckled as he held his wrist, "There's a game we can play that works, I also played soccer a lot, but not very recently-probably like nine or ten years ago."

Chiya smiled at him, "Sure! I actually brought my Mysterian soccer uniform with me when I came to Earth, never thought I'd get to ever wear it again though…"

Earl rubbed his chin with an intrigued look, "I'd like to see you showcase in that unif-"

Just then, Bart Lemming came walking into the café, immediately making his way around to the counter.

"I apologize, I was working on my vehicle-need to keep it nice looking."

Chiya turned around towards him, "Is it an expensive vehicle?"

Earl and Bart began to laugh at her question, Chiya widened her eyes at the humor they found in this, _Okay then, apparently that was a funny question? _she asked herself.

"Oh yes, you could definitely say that…" answered Earl.

Chiya slowly nodded, then looked at Earl, "So you said Bart might know a good job for me?"

Earl snapped his fingers and looked up at Bart, "So Lemming, Chiya here wants to do her part in the organization and get a part-time job, but she doesn't have too much experience, has no references, has no diplomas-except her High School Diploma, and she can get a little distracted."

Chiya gave him an offended look, "Distracted? When?"

"The Bet race, Auction race, Seppuku's meetings-"

"Okay, okay…"

Bart nodded at the two, "Sounds hard to work with, but I might have one idea for such a pretty lady," Chiya smiled at the compliment, Bart rubbed his chin and looked at her with one eye closed, "Are you comfortable talking to people you don't know well?"

She shrugged at him, "Maybe, I guess, depends…"

"Can you pour drinks without spilling?"

"Usually."

Bart nodded with a smirk, "You would probably meet a lot of men who might flirt with you, would that be okay?"

Chiya hid a smile and put her finger on her lip, "I guess…"

Earl chuckled, "Sounds like my kind of job!"

Both Bart and Chiya looked at him with disturbed looks, Earl then realized what he said wrong, "I mean-if it were women flirting with me, no- not men!"

Chiya giggled at him, then looked back at Bart, "Sounds okay, where would I go to land this job?"

Bart grinned and walked around the counter next to her, wrapping his arm around her neck, "Follow me, I'll take you there."

Chiya grunted as she stood up, confused as to where they would be walking. Bart then walked her back around to the counter, then let go of her. Earl raised an eyebrow at the two, Chiya now stood behind the counter with Bart-but she was beyond confused. Neither Chiya or Earl were catching on to what Bart was proposing, he raised an eyebrow at Chiya wondering when she would catch on. Chiya looked back at Earl for assistance, but then gasped and smiled.

"You want me to work here?"

"Sure, I don't have any other employees, and you're a nice fun girl-I'm sure many people would take interest in talking to you."

Earl smiled at the two and nodded, "That sounds like the perfect job for Chiya, what would she need to do?"

"Serve and talk, that's it-and serving is as simple as pouring coffee into a cup."

"What would my hours be?"

Earl shrugged at her, "Come in whenever you feel like it, I'll pay you by the hour-I'll pay you twice as much for whenever I have to run my sudden _errands_, because this way I won't have to close the café while I'm away."

Chiya smiled gleefully, "I'll do it!"

Earl grinned at her, "There ya' go, with two incomes, we'll be out of this financial hole in no time."

"This actually sounds fun, can Earl still talk to me while I work?"

"Sure, he's a customer too."

Chiya launched her fist up in front of her with a feeling of accomplishment, "Sweet!"

Bart grabbed Chiya's shoulder and looked down at her, "Ms. Flower, with the Grand Prix only days away, are you feeling nervous?"

Chiya immediately bit her finger, "Um, yeah! I got Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz trying to kill me-I'm praying that I can get an alliance formed with Captain Falcon and the Federation…"

Bart raised an eyebrow at her, "Captain Falcon you say?" Earl widened his eyes at Bart and looked back down at Chiya momentarily, "I think I could help you out there…"

Chiya gasped and looked up at him, "You can ask Captain Falcon for me?"

Bart nodded at her, "It would be my pleasure, I have connections with him…"

"-and he'd help me?"

Bart smirked at her, "I have a feeling that he would, especially since it involves his arch nemesis, Blood Falcon."

"Yes, yes, yes!" she said in excitement.

Earl chuckled at her, "Well you're just having one great day, aren't you?"

"Seppuku and Captain Falcon are so similar, if I'm guarded by both of them, then there's no way things can go bad for me!"

Earl nodded at her, "Sadly, the Grand Prix is too close to work on this, but we should consider investing on better machine parts, especially a better engine."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "No way, anything else is okay-but not the engine," Earl pointed his finger up about to speak up, but Chiya looked him in the eyes, "I upgraded that engine myself with what my father taught me before I- uh, before he was killed by the bombing; that engine is very important to me."

Earl nodded respectively, then began to rub his hands together deviously, "Imagine if we had the booster or combat module that Blaskovitz has right now, we'd be cruising our way to first!"

Bart shook his head negatively, "His machine is nothing short of a cheater's dream machine, it takes the sportsmanship right out of F-Zero."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that thing just wouldn't stop boosting after me, and it didn't look like it used up much energy either."

Bart then grabbed her arm, observing all the scars she had, "So the story is as bad as they claim…"

Chiya looked Bart in the eyes, and dipped her head down sadly, "It was awful, but I valued my friends lives more than my own-so I allowed them to torture me."

"Have you tried any of the skin colored makeup at the mall?" Chiya widened her eyes at him, "It looks like you could easily just cover up those scars with a little touchup."

"Oh thank God…" she muttered.

Bart looked over at Earl and grinned, "So Earl, who are you rooting for? Ms. Flower or Lieutenant Seppuku?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and slowly looked at Earl, _Well he already said that Dark Rose is hotter than me, I bet he's rooting for Brock Blaskovitz…_ she thought sarcastically. She looked back up at Bart, who was grinning at the question he had asked.

"Chiya by a long shot, to be honest, Seppuku's egoistic attitude always has kept me somewhat of a Captain Falcon fan anyways-but Chiya isn't a bastard like him." Chiya smiled at him, pleased that he was prepared to become one of the first Chiya Flower fans. Earl looked over at Chiya with a smirk, "Please don't be offended if I choose not to wear any fan gear."

"Okay, alright…"

Bart smirked at her, "I wish I could promote you by hanging Chiya Flower things up here in the café, but I'm trying to keep it Falcon exclusive."

"I understand."

Bart leaned over the counter and stretched, "So when do you think you'll first be available for work?"

"Tomorrow!"

Bart grinned, "Excellent, because I have two people coming in tomorrow I'd like you to meet."

Chiya puckered her lips and scratched her head, "Who are they?"

"One is an F-Zero racer, the other is a young man I thought you may be interested in."

Earl raised an eyebrow and smirked at Chiya at the mentioning of the young man, Chiya grunted and looked back up at Bart, "I'm not looking for a relationship right now…"

"That's not what your lips told me tha-"

"Well I'd still like you to meet him, I just think that you two are very similar."

Chiya nodded at him, "Well that's fine, I just don't jump into things with complete strangers."

Earl shook his grinning head at her negatively while holding his chin and cheek, "You mean like that time we met and I gave you the free F-Zero ticket, and you-"

"Quiet Earl," she demanded.

Earl began to chuckle at her, "Just playing with you."

To be continued…


	19. Lap 18

==Lap 18=

Another day had passed and it was late in the evening, Chiya and Seppuku stood outside of the base looking at the front door, which was now metallic and had a very well built security system. The monitor sticking out the front of the door made the base seem less hidden to the public, but since the entrance was in an alley, not many people would get to see it. Seppuku smirked at Chiya and pointed at the door, a devious look on his face.

"Go on, try breaking in."

Chiya nodded and walked towards the door, she was nervous at just how secure this truly was, she was wondering if it would present any danger to her-expecting Seppuku to search for something lethal. She started off by grabbing the doorknob, but found that it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked."

"You dumb girl, I said try breaking in!"

She nodded, then began to press numbers into a small panel next to the door, she had no idea what the code was to get inside, she began to tremble wondering how he expected her to try breaking in.

"Oh for God sakes Chiya, start kicking the damn door or something! Break in!"

She began to tremble, then softly began to kick at the door-momentarily starting to bash the door with her foot much harder as she learned how durable it was. She got a fired up look as she continued to kick at it, finding thrill out of expressing such rage on the door. Seppuku smirked at her, he was both pleased to see her letting her emotions out-but was a bit more excited to see her initial response to the security measures. She had a grin on her face as she kicked it again, but soon found that the monitor above her was displaying her image.

"What the-"

Then alarms began to go off in the base, leaving her in a state of shock, she backed away from the door quickly and hid behind Seppuku. He growled at her and pushed her away from him, he then pulled out a remote and pressed a button-turning off all of the alarms. She looked back at the door and slowly lifted her trembling finger at it.

"Th- that's going to go off whenever an intruder gets violent towards the door?"

He chuckled silently, "Don't worry, it's much louder from the inside."

Chiya sighed at this, but then smiled as she realized that no one would ever break in again unnoticed. She gave him a thumbs up, "Great work!"

Seppuku chuckled again, "Thank yourself, we wouldn't have this great system if you hadn't taken one for the team on Black Shadow's ship," Chiya beamed at him as she was feeling more proud of what she had done, "Even I thank you, because I got to stick it up Summer's ass, forcing her to pay for all of this."

Chiya widened her eyes and cringed, "Please don't say it like that…"

Suddenly the sound of police sirens could be heard coming down the streets quickly, Seppuku turned around in shock-then got an excited look on his face.

"Crime! Excellent, time to hunt!"

Chiya gasped at him, then began walking towards the door, "Well, have fun with that!" she said with a quivering fake smile.

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Come on, you and Bendek can join me, that was a large amount of cops, meaning something big is going down."

"Earl's at work right now, said he got a call from his boss to go fix a vehicle's engine near the Lightning Area."

Seppuku grabbed his rifle and shook his head negatively, "Whatever, you and me then, let's go!"

Chiya grabbed out her handgun hesitantly, then began to follow Seppuku quickly as he sprinted down the street. _I guess we'll just run with our guns just out in the open then… _she thought in frustration as she ran. Chiya couldn't see but Seppuku had a thrilled look on his face, hoping that there would be a reasonably large conflict breaking out somewhere-with bodies to loot for money or other valuables. They had only been running for about a minute, and Chiya was already beginning to pant. _Why am I panting? I'm not chubby anymore or anything-not since my cookie addiction…_ What Chiya found interesting, was that Seppuku was running without a single sound, the sound of his footsteps couldn't be heard-unlike Chiya, who's footsteps were very loud. Seppuku began to chuckle mischievously as they ran, Chiya felt like they were being somewhat criminal-like, but assumed that it was okay since they intended on helping the police. She looked at his large durable looking rifle, nearly as tall as him-then looked down at her small handgun with a taser.

"Seppuku, why do you get that big rifle, and I'm still stuck with this little thing?"

Seppuku looked back at her slightly as they ran, "A very good question, and a very good answer awaits-but not now."

Chiya appeared unamused by his response, simply shaking her head in discontent at him. _He let Earl bring a bloody assault rifle to save me, why can't I just have something with more kick?_ She exhaled trying to catch her breath, it was as if Seppuku was getting faster the more they ran-the complete opposite for Chiya. _I thought he had superhuman speed like Blood Falcon and Dark Rose…_

About three minutes later, the sight of several police cars surrounding a building could be seen far up the road. Chiya was now exhausted and was panting much louder, Seppuku was becoming annoyed at her, finding her lack of stamina disappointing. Chiya was managing to stay close to him none-the-less, but he didn't appear to be breaking a sweat.

"Why couldn't we just drive he-ere?" she complained.

"I presume that you failed gym class back on your planet?"

Chiya had a grin as she ran with him, "Actually, I played varsity girls soccer on my planet, so I was one of the bett-"

"Soccer? Can you destroy your opponents in it like F-Zero?"

Chiya was trying to hold in her breaths so she could explain, "Well kind of, it's quite simple actually, you destroy your opponents morale by making consistent goals."

"Any blood?"

"Uh, I saw a bloody nose once…"

Seppuku sighed and looked away from her, anxious to reach the police vehicles. Chiya held her chest and widened her eyes, _I can only take so much more abuse to my legs…_ She looked to the side of the street and saw a convenience store she never saw before, it must have been a newly opened business in the Lower City-this was finally possible since the gang war was over.

"Can we take a break and buy a bottle of water?" she asked.

"No."

She groaned at the sky angrily as she walked past the store, wishing that she could get her hands on any kind of fluid. She shook her head negatively and looked back down the street, they had about two minutes left of running before they would reach the police. _At this rate, I won't have the energy to do any crime fighting…_

The two eventually made their way to the crowd of cops, Chiya was surprised to see that Seppuku just walked up to a group of officers-unaware of his presence. _He's not gonna' just walk straight up to them, is he?_ But he did exactly what she thought he would, walking straight up to two officers with his rifle in his hands. He grabbed the shoulder of a blonde officer, immediately startling him-even more startled at the sight of Lieutenant Seppuku.

"Wha- what!?"

Seppuku smirked at him, "What's the situation?"

The other officer was a dark skinned man with short black hair, he began to tremble at the sight of Seppuku, who was much taller than both of them. Chiya momentarily came running behind Seppuku, panting greatly as she could finally rest. The officers looked at the two and realized that they meant them no harm, so they didn't both raise their weapons at them.

"Blood Falcon is threatening to light a bomb off in that workplace, we believe that he's trying to loot the place with a partner."

Chiya widened her eyes and began shaking her head, "I'm not going in there!"

"Oh yes you are, both of us-but stay with me."

Chiya grunted at him, then momentarily nodded, "If I get captured again, I expect you to find me like Earl did!"

"Noted, now let's go."

Both officers grunted at Seppuku with serious looks, "Hey wait a minute!" Seppuku turned around and gave the officer a cold blank stare, "Uh, never mind…"

Chiya and Seppuku rushed into the building cautiously, Chiya was staying behind him with a distressed look. Once inside Seppuku began to take very quiet steps down the hallway, Chiya was trying to stay quiet as well-but the boots she was wearing was much more rough than his, leaving loud footsteps wherever she walked. Seppuku was scanning the hallway with great caution, but appeared determined to get in a fight none-the-less. _Blood Falcon beat him on Aeropolis, what makes him think he'll win now?_ Seppuku appeared confused, there wasn't a single sound to be heard, only the police sirens outside of the building. They came to the end of the hallway and could now take a left or right turn, Chiya was ultimately fearing that he would propose splitting up-but she had no plans of going through with this. The two stopped and prepared to turn down a different hallway, but Chiya and Seppuku both noticed something as they got to the end of the hallway-Chiya had nearly slipped on something wet, Seppuku sniffed the air and had a confused look on his face.

"Oil?"

He then gasped and found that the hallway had a stream of gasoline poured across the end of the hallway, the oil was then carelessly spread out throughout the other hallways. Chiya began to tremble as she looked at the oil, "This can't be good…"

"Lieutenant Seppuku," greeted Blood Falcon far across the hallway.

Seppuku looked up at him and smirked, "Blood Falcon."

Chiya slightly gasped at the sight of another man who was standing next to him; the man known as Excalibur. Blood Falcon and Seppuku proceeded to taunt each other by both chuckling, Chiya narrowed her eyes at Seppuku in frustration, _Well, take this serious at least…_

Seppuku put away his rifle and clenched his fists, "Flower, you take the robot looking guy-Blood Falcon's mine!"

Blood Falcon laughed at him, "Well allow for us to light a candle, as it always makes a heartwarming setting!"

Excalibur then lit a match and dropped it on the stream of oil, immediately allowing a fire to race down towards them. Chiya leapt away from the oil just in time, as the hallway they came through was now blocked by a wall of flames. Seppuku looked over at the wall of fire and smirked.

"Clever, looks like there's no way out then…"

Blood Falcon began to approach Seppuku slowly and vice-versa, Chiya held her handgun tightly and looked at Excalibur challengingly. Within moments Blood Falcon and Seppuku began to engage each other in hand-to-hand combat, just like on Aeropolis-they appeared evenly matched right away, both strangely having similar move sets. Chiya trained her handgun on Excalibur, but found that he was speeding down the hallway in zigzags too quickly-he didn't appear to have any specific powers like Blood Falcon or Dark Rose, rather he was well equipped for many situations. Chiya took a few shots but horribly missed him, the only way she would hit him is if she aimed in front of him perfectly-but it was too late, Excalibur dropped onto the floor sliding and momentarily kicked her legs; she fell down as a result.

"Off your ass flower!" ordered Seppuku.

She leapt up very acrobatically and planted her feet on the ground tightly, she decided to put her gun away-finding that this wasn't going to get her far. What she noticed is that he appeared more interested in fist fighting her, as he _did_ have a gun on him-so she would honor his wish. The two looked at each other with their fists clenched, Chiya was shocked to see that he then got in a Seoli Idong position, curving his fingers and keeping his legs positioned correctly. Chiya smirked at him and proudly mimicked what he was doing, as she now had some knowledge on Seoli Idong.

"So you're from Korea, you'll be surprised to know that I can do that too," she said with a grin.

He nodded at her, "You'll have to prove it."

He then charged at Chiya and made a swift attack at her-miraculously she blocked it perfectly and grabbed his hand, but she was confronted with a problem. _How do I punch his face, he's wearing a helmet!_ he then took the moment to twist her arm somewhat painfully, then broke away from her grasp. Chiya gritted her teeth nervously as she stepped back from him, prepared for another attack.

"Finally, someone I have a chance against…" she muttered.

He waved his finger at her threateningly, "You should run before you get hurt, there's an emergency exit around the corner."

Chiya gasped then growled as she charged at him, she threw a swift punch at his throat, then kicked him onto the ground. Excalibur looked up at her quickly and rolled away before she could stomp on his face, he then twisted his legs around her and pulled her down onto the floor with him. She grunted as she hit the floor, then began to wrestle him on the ground-trying to reach out for his throat.

Seppuku and Blood Falcon were moving around the hallway with superhuman speed, both dashing right through the flames without a struggle. Blood Falcon chuckled as he rushed towards Seppuku, who had his fists up in front of him tightly. Seppuku knew that Blood Falcon could dodge his bullets with ease, so he didn't bother trying to shoot him; Seppuku was however, contemplating on taking out his claymore sword. Blood Falcon leapt through the flames right towards Seppuku, throwing a powerful punch at him-but Seppuku blocked it with both his hands. Seppuku countered by striking Blood Falcon's chin roughly, immediately launching his head upward, Blood Falcon grunted angrily at Seppuku, then kicked Seppuku's arm roughly.

Seppuku took a few steps back as he brushed his arm with his teeth clenched in pain, "I'll hand it to you-you have a foot of steel."

Blood Falcon tightened his glove and smirked at him, then ran at Seppuku again and tried punching him-but he was blocked and punched in the face yet again. Blood Falcon was knocked back towards the fire again, but brushed off the pain in his face with a grin.

"Come now Lieutenant, do you really plan on beating me through counter-attacks?"

Seppuku chuckled at him, "Do you really plan on beating me with that thing on your nose?"

Blood Falcon then tried looking at his nose, momentarily rubbing his nose off with his hand-but Seppuku then punched him again. Blood Falcon growled and grabbed both of Seppuku's arms, trying to push each other down to the ground. Blood Falcon seemed to have the upper hand on him, applying enough pressure to the point where Seppuku's legs were quaking. Seppuku then bit Blood Falcon's arm with his sharp teeth, Blood Falcon shouted in pain-then did the same to Seppuku.

Chiya and Excalibur were running across the hallway together neck-and-neck, Chiya glanced to her right and prepared to leap at him. The two were coming up on the end of the hallway, the fire was still present all the way across however. Chiya then leapt to the side of her trying to pin down Excalibur, Excalibur slid away from her just in time however, she nearly landed face forward onto the ground. Excalibur began to charge towards her again, but Chiya got on her feet in time and prevented him from pushing her back down, she was holding his hands with great force-but he seemed just a bit stronger than her and was still pushing her arms back towards her chest. Chiya grinded her teeth nervously as she was slowly being pushed back down, she then noticed the large gap he was leaving between his legs and found this as a way out. She quickly dropped onto her back while still holding his hands, sliding right between his legs and coming up from behind, she then flipped him over onto the ground. She then pulled out her handgun quickly and trained it down on his face, she had a victorious smirk on her face. He then rolled away quickly and somehow kicked the handgun up into the air, it momentarily landed and slid about an inch away from the blazing fire.

Blood Falcon kicked Seppuku down onto the floor and put his foot on his chest, chuckling down at him, "Come on, Seppuku! I'm wiping my dirty boot on you like a doormat, control me!" he joked.

Seppuku growled at him as he reached into his coat pocket, quickly pulling out the sword he had as a last resort. Before Blood Falcon could react, he found that Seppuku took a moderate swing at his leg, managing to cut through his flesh none-the-less. Blood Falcon shouted and backed away from Seppuku quickly, he then got up and kicked Blood Falcon roughly. Blood Falcon was propelled across the room by the kick, his legs landing right in the fire-Blood Falcon clenched his fists and pounded them as his legs started on fire, he immediately jolted out of the flames. Seppuku raised an eyebrow at Blood Falcon as he somehow stood up, despite the fact that his legs were on fire. Blood Falcon began to pat the flames down calmly as he looked at Seppuku with a grin.

"Fine, you win this time-but you cheated with that sword," said Blood Falcon.

Seppuku pulled out his rifle quickly, seeing his wounds a good time to simply bring him down. Blood Falcon began to laugh and managed to leap away from his shots none-the-less, quickly sprinting down the long hallway towards Excalibur.

Chiya and Excalibur continued to fight, he seemed to be better at Seoli Idong than Chiya, but she knew enough about the self-defense portion to hold him off. Excalibur attempted to beat her across the face-but Chiya got hold of his arm just in time, catching him off guard. Chiya then kicked his leg roughly and threw him down onto the ground again, she stomped on his foot in hopes that this would hold him off while she got the gun. She looked down at the fire and saw her handgun laying right next to the flames, she smirked and quickly ran up to the fire, kneeling down and reaching out for it. She gritted her teeth as the intense heat of the flames rubbed off on her skin, but none-the-less, she managed to get hold of her handgun-only she immediately encountered a problem.

"O-oh my God!" she screamed in agony, she brought her hand back to her face and began blowing on it constantly.

She looked at her hand quickly and found that the details on the handle of her handgun had imprinted right onto her skin, the metal of the gun was so warmed up now-she couldn't grab it. She quickly gasped as Excalibur pushed her face down onto the ground quickly, he then reached out for her handgun and grabbed it-as he was wearing gloves. Chiya struggled to get out of his grasp, but soon found that he climbed on top of her, she gasped again as he laid his elbows down on her arms so she couldn't break free-her legs could do nothing. Chiya was planted securely onto the ground by him, all she could do was turn her head towards him.

"Get off of me!"

She soon found that he held the handgun up to her forehead, sending her into a state of shock, she could feel the warmth of the handgun going onto her skin as she looked right down the barrel of her own gun-anticipating a blinding flash to end her life any moment. _Oh my God, he's got me pinned, I'm going to die!_

"Your stunning looks didn't get you very far, you're defeated Chiya."

She gasped once more as she struggled to break free, she soon found that he grabbed her face-pushing her head down onto its side forcibly, she could just barely see his helmet with her left eye. _Bloody Hell…_ she thought in fear, wondering why he turned her head. She tightly closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, beginning to tremble.

"Excalibur, let's go!" Blood Falcon yelled from across the hallway.

Chiya began to whimper in fear as her eyes were still shut, she could tell that the handgun was still against her forehead. She then widened her eyes in shock at something-he kissed her cheek out of utter nowhere. Chiya immediately screamed in disgust and began to wiggle around constantly.

"What the Hell!" she screamed in disgust by this random act.

He lowered his helmet again before she could catch a glimpse of his face, but she knew that it was a quick kiss to the cheek. Chiya had a disturbed look on her face and had her tongue stuck out in disgust, her legs still worming around constantly. Excalibur threw the bullets out of her handguns clip and threw it at her body. She gasped and looked back at him as soon as he got up, she now spun around and sat looking up at him.

"Wha-at are-"

Excalibur chuckled as he then pointed the tip of his knife at her neck, "You have a pleasantly soft cheek."

Chiya made grunting noises and lowered her eyebrows in confusion, momentarily pointing up at him, "What the Hell kind of villa-"

He then began to run towards Blood Falcon quickly, chuckling as he sprinted, Chiya shook her head negatively and grabbed her handgun with her shirt wrapped around her hands. She simply stood still watching as both Blood Falcon and Excalibur left her sight, Seppuku was running towards her from across the hallway moments later. She had her teeth gritted with a look of awe, wondering why she had been spared by one of Black Shadow's men.

The following day, Chiya found herself excitedly behind the counter of Bart's Café, he was alongside her from the other end of the counter. She found that this could be a fun way to earn money-especially since she was being paid by the hour. She was skeptical as to how Bart could pay her so much just for wasting air, but she had no plans of asking as she was simply overjoyed that she could help support her friends, as Earl claimed to have a job as an odd-job mechanic again, he would be bringing in money as well.

"So you and Seppuku saved all those people from the building then?"

Chiya nodded happily, "I guess, I kind of screwed up, but Seppuku must have sent Blood Falcon running," she threw her fist in the air, "Though I do have to gloat, I was holding that one man off pretty well with Seoli Idong."

Bart put his hands together, "Earl must have been very proud to hear that you used what he taught in-"

Just then, Earl walked into the café with a grin on his face, "Hey, hey, there's the new waitress!" he said pointing at her.

Chiya smiled at him, "Earl, did you just get back? I didn't see you all night."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "No, I saw you in the kitchen this morning."

She shrugged at him, "Huh, didn't see you."

"So I heard you and Seppuku stopped Blood Falcon from killing several hostages last night."

Chiya launched her finger up excitedly, "Oh, that's right!" she then threw her fist in front of her with her two fingers crossed, "Black Shadow recruited a Korean, we both used Seoli Idong on each other."

Earl rubbed his chin as he stared into her eyes, slowly moving his chin side-to-side, "Did you win?"

Chiya dipped her head down, "N-not quite, but I came really close!" Earl nodded his head at her with a grin, "He had a pretty slick looking uniform and racer helmet though."

Earl then widened his eyes at her, "Excalibur?"

"Excalibur, let's go!" Blood Falcon yelled from across the hallway.

Chiya had a dazed look, then looked back at Earl, "Uh, yeah, I think so."

"I tangled with him back in the war, beat him in a gambling match and he went on hating me, didn't picture him ever aligning himself with someone like Black Shadow though."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "He just held me down, kissed my cheek at gunpoint, then ran."

Earl smirked at her, "Did you enjoy it?"

Chiya quickly shook her head, "No! I don't even know if he's hot or not!"

"Oh don't worry, he's got looks…" he then chuckled at her, "When we get back to base later, you can show me what he did to pin you, that way I can show you how to break free."

The sound of an F-Zero machine suddenly boomed in front of the café, all three looked out the window and were surprised to see a fairly large bright white F-Zero machine park. Bart grinned at the sight of this and looked over at Chiya.

"This is the F-Zero racer I wanted you to meet."

Chiya blinked a few times in anticipation, it wasn't an F-Zero machine she ever saw on the track. A few moments later, a man in red pants and a blue coat walked in, he had somewhat spiked reddish-brown hair.

"Afternoon Bart, Earl."

Bart held his hand out towards him, "Chiya, this is Rick Wheeler, he works for the Federation and occasionally races."

"Hello Chiya, I've heard your name a few times this past week, mostly from Jody Summer."

Chiya grunted at him, then bowed, "Hi-i…" she said with a shy smile.

Rick sat down next to Earl and continued looking at her, "Both Jody and Bart have told me that you're the new racer on the track this year?"

She rubbed her forehead and smiled, "Yes, I am, I'm hoping that either Lieutenant Seppuku or me can win."

"Hopefully you, none of us are big Seppuku fans in the Federation."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "What was Seppuku like while he worked in the Federation?"

Rick shrugged at her, "Couldn't tell you, I was still frozen during that time-you could say I'm a time traveler."

"Like Brock Blaskovitz?"

"Blaskovitz and Zoda, out of us three-I'm the only one who entered this new world as a good guy."

Chiya puckered her lips, "Who's Zoda?"

Earl pointed his finger up, "He's with Black Shadow, but he's more of a self-serving kind of bastard, unlike Blood Falcon."

Rick chuckled sarcastically, "Black Shadow…"

"-is a wanker," Chiya added.

Bart then placed his finger on her lips, surprising her, "There will be none of that foul mouthed language while you're behind this counter, Ms. Flower."

Chiya hesitantly nodded at him, "Yes sir."

Rick swished his hand in the air, "It's fine, her charming looks and attitude makes it excusable."

Chiya widened her eyes and smiled at him, nearly blushing at the compliment. Earl raised an eyebrow at her while she stared at Rick, then got a frustrated looking smile on his face.

"Yeah, Rick's cool like that, so is his girlfriend…"

Chiya gritted her teeth and nodded, "Yes of course."

Rick looked at Bart with a look of concern, "I gotta' tell you Bart, Jody's about to break down any day now, she even took a personal day-the first time in her life."

Bart shook his head negatively, "Poor woman, she tries her hardest to keep Mute City happy…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly, she felt somewhat bad for Jody, especially since they had just went and blackmailed her out of so much money. She dipped her head down sadly, _How can I expect her to help me in the Grand Prix, when we just practically mugged her?_

Just then, the door opened and a young man in a black leather coat walked in. Earl turned his head around and was somewhat surprised at the strikingly similar appearance the man had-the main difference being with coat colors. He had shaggy hair as well, only it was slightly more pale than Earl's, he didn't have any facial hair, and he had green eyes.

"Chiya, this is another recurring customer of mine, _Jason Knox_."

"Who's this piece of hot ass?" he asked looking at Chiya immediately. Both Earl and Chiya got angry looks at his rude entrance, Chiya had a look of great offense however, "I'm kidding…" he said making his way to the counter.

"Chiya, go cater to Jason, I want to continue this discussion with Rick," said Bart.

Chiya hesitantly nodded at his request, Jason took a seat about four chairs away from Rick. Earl was staring at the side of his head with both an angry and suspicious look, Chiya momentarily approached him and began conversing with him.

"She's so scared that disaster is going to strike, she still hasn't spent the prize money on anything," explained Rick.

"I think that's wise of her, Black Shadow is obviously trying to reveal himself finally, and the Federation may need all the money it can get if something goes bad," Bart responded.

Earl was becoming frustrated, he couldn't hear Chiya and Jason very well from his seat, but then he had Rick and Bart speaking right in front of him at the same time.

"Have you considered sending her on a vacation?" proposed Bart.

Rick shook his head negatively, "I doubt she'd ever consider it, the last time we got her to go anywhere fun was the bowling alley, otherwise she's just a workaholic, never leaving her office."

Earl was still staring at Chiya and Jason, they were still talking-meaning Chiya was finding something of interest to talk about with him besides coffee.

"Isn't Lieutenant Seppuku like that Earl?" asked Bart.

Earl widened his eyes and looked back at Bart, "Oh, uh, what now?"

"Seppuku, he never leaves his office and is always working, right?"

Earl glanced over at the two again, then back at Bart, "Uh, yeah, he just stays isolated in that place all day, he even sleeps there."

Rick stretched for a moment as he looked back at Earl, "I don't think Jody actually hates Seppuku."

Earl nodded in agreement, "I think that works vice-versa as well, she always sounded like she wanted him back in the Federation."

"Well yeah, everyone here wants him back, but we can't hire him again because of his unmoral values and unethical ways of dealing with crime."

Earl was once again looking at Chiya with a concerned look, he wanted to hear what they were saying, but if he moved over next to Jason, he'd risk looking rude in front of everyone-not to mention it would be awkward.

A while later, Rick had left back for the Federation HQ, leaving only Earl, Bart, Chiya, and Jason in the café. Bart and Earl were alone together, but Bart could now tell that Earl was trying to eavesdrop on the two. Bart looked down at Earl's hand, it was tapping the counter constantly in frustration, his eyes showed discontent, and his teeth were clearly gritted behind his lips.

Bart leaned towards Earl slowly, "Is something bothering you?" he whispered.

Earl continued to tap his fingers as he stared at Jason, it had now been about forty minutes since they began talking-and Chiya was now laughing a few times.

"That guy's trouble…"

Bart chuckled silently at Earl, "Jason? No-o…"

"He greeted her with a sexual remark, imagine what he'd say to her if they were friends."

Bart shook his head with a grin, "Relax Earl, you're being overprotective of Chiya, just let her enjoy her conversation freely."

Earl hummed doubtfully, becoming more angry as Chiya continued to smile and giggle, "You're paying her to flirt with someone?"

Bart raised an eyebrow at him, "Yes, she got him coffee, is entertaining him, that _is_ why I hired her," Earl shook his head negatively at the two while biting his lip, Bart then let out a chuckle, "-or am I off target, is Earl Bendek actually romantically interested in someone at last?"

He slammed his fist down at him in response, "No-o, I'm interested in any good looking girl I meet, you know that..."

"But are you _romantically_ interested in any of those women?"

"Why don't you calm down, Bart," sneered Earl, he then looked over at Jason again, "I'm just gonna' be pissed if Chiya gets her heart crushed because she gets dumped by some ass who wants to get sexually intimate with her on the first date."

Bart swished his hand in the air, "Jason isn't like that, don't judge him simply off of his offensive entrance."

Earl slammed his fist down angrily again, "-and why do you care who she dates anyways?"

Bart smirked at him, "I could ask the same thing…"

Suddenly Jason and Chiya both came up next to the two, Jason appeared to have unwillingly though. Chiya waved at Earl as she got up next to Bart again, "By the sound of the fist pounding, there must be some kind of juicy story going on here."

Earl grunted and looked at her, "No, we're just talking about the Grand Prix some more," he said with a fake smile.

Jason turned towards Earl and held out his hand, "Sweet cheeks over here tells me you're a good mechanic, nice to meet you," Earl looked at Chiya for a moment, but she didn't seem offended by the name he referred to her as.

Earl hesitantly shook his hand, "A pleasure…" he muttered with a fake smile.

Chiya nodded at the handshake in approval, then looked at Earl, "So Jason was telling me about this planet called Green Plant and a little story along with it, it's pretty funny."

Jason cleared his throat, preparing to repeat the story, "So I was with my sixth girlfriend on Green Plant for the Grand Prix, and she looked at the machine Baba drives, and she looks at me, and then she says the stupidest thing a girl could ever say to me, but it was kind of funny, it went like…"

Earl was staring at him as he continued on with his story, but was only becoming more frustrated with Jason as he actually listened to the person. _I'm keeping an eye on this guy…_ he thought hostilely as he rambled on.

To be continued…


	20. Lap 19

==Lap 19=

The following day, Black Shadow sat rubbing his chin as he looked down at Excalibur, Blood Falcon and Excalibur were back on Black Shadow's ship. Dark Rose stood still while staring at Excalibur with a smirk, Brock Blaskovitz sitting in a chair with a displeased look.

"Why didn't you kill Chiya Flower?" demanded Black Shadow.

Excalibur shook his head negatively, "Killing Chiya wasn't my mission, I would only kill Earl Bendek, unless of course…" he crossed his arms at Black Shadow with a dauntless look, "You add me as a permanent member of your team."

Black Shadow growled at him, "You didn't prove that you are an asset worth keeping around."

"I had Chiya helplessly at gunpoint, all I had to do was press the trigger and she would have been dead."

Blood Falcon patted Excalibur's back, "He did keep that pesky girl off my hands while I fought Seppuku."

Black Shadow now growled at Blood Falcon, "-and why couldn't _you_ beat Seppuku?"

Blood Falcon chuckled, "I did beat him, then he pulled out a sword and kicked me into the fire."

Excalibur pointed at Black Shadow challengingly, "Besides, you wanted us to put fear into the city, and we did just that-therefore the mission was a success."

Black Shadow rubbed his chin again, contemplating what to do with Excalibur. Excalibur then jolted his head up startled as someone began rubbing his left bicep, it was Dark Rose.

"Come on master, he would make a handsome new weapon in your arsenal of destruction…"

Excalibur shook his head at her slowly, "Oh, the irony…"

Two days had now passed since Chiya's first day at Bart's Café; as Bart had expected, the man known as Jason Knox had quickly befriended Chiya, as they continued to hang out at the café together. Earl was becoming overly frustrated at the new friendship, as he continuously defended his theory that Jason was trying to warm her up into a bad relationship-possibly one leading to unwanted sexual interactions. Earl was concerned that Chiya would be crushed if she got too attached to the man, just to be dumped for not allowing herself to be controlled by him-or the worst-case scenario being if Chiya would submit to an abusive relationship. These were just presumptions Earl had however, not facts-Bart was defending the idea that Jason is just a man who can say dirty things, but not actually a sexual person.

Earl was in the garage looking over the _Red Dove_, he didn't tell Seppuku-but he was much more focused on the _Purring Kitten_ nowadays, because he was in more support of Chiya being a racer rather than Seppuku.

Seppuku slowly approached Earl from behind, happy to see that Earl was so preoccupied with F-Zero, "Bendek."

Earl turned around quickly with an exhausted look, he had been leaping around the _Red Dove_ constantly doing different things, "Yeah?"

Seppuku crossed his arms at him, "I was wondering if you wanted to go get another movie, I've got nothing to do until the Grand Prix starts," he then lowered his fedora for a moment, "Don't invite Chiya this time."

Earl shook his head negatively, "I'd love to, but with the Grand Prix so close, I have to make sure that both machines are working perfectly, so I'll probably have to tear some things apart, which will take a few hours," he wiped his forehead, "Basically what I'm saying, is that I'm booked, I can't go anywhere today."

Suddenly Chiya walked into the garage, "Hey Earl, gonna' head over to Bart's again, wanna' come?"

"Yeah, got nothing better to do."

Seppuku grunted at Earl, taking offense to this, "Wow Bendek, to think I was proud of you for a moment for concerning yourself so much over the Red Dove…"

Earl chuckled at him, "Okay, I just don't feel like watching a movie tonight is all I'm saying."

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "Whatever," he said walking away from the two.

Chiya slowly turned back towards Earl, "So when would you be coming to the café?"

Earl shrugged, "Any time I guess," he turned around towards the _Purring Kitten_ with a grin, "I was thinking about doing a check over on the engine tonight, wanna' help? I know you have some skill with engines."

Chiya nodded happily, "That sounds great-only I told Jason tha-" Earl scowled at the mentioning of his name, immediately giving Chiya the assumption that Earl didn't like him, "What's wrong?"

Earl looked into her eyes with somewhat frustration, hesitating to answer at first, "Be careful with that guy, I've crossed paths will men like him before-he's trouble."

"He's not trouble, he's a cool guy," she sneered back.

Earl shook his head defiantly, "Trust me, I've been around the block with girls before, he's like me-only a little more dirty minded," he closed one eye and tilted his head at her, "Aren't you bothered that he keeps calling you names like _sweet cheeks_?"

Chiya swished her hand at him with a chuckle, "That's nothing Earl, it's like if I started calling you _hot stuff_, I'm sure you wouldn't find it offensive either."

"-and what about his many girlfriends he used to have, doesn't that concern you at the slightest?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily at him, "Look, if you're going to act like this, then maybe I don't want you to come."

Earl sighed and looked down at his feet, "All I'm saying, is jump in a relationship boneheadedly with this guy right away, and you're bound to be crushed," he looked back up at her face, "I just don't want to be the one pulling you out of your room yet again when you become utterly depressed."

Chiya calmly growled at him, "I never said I wanted a relationship with him-though I would be flattered if he proposed this…"

_Dammit Chiya, it's been only two days…_ he thought angrily.

"Why do you care so much anyways? It's not like I interrogate you about the girls _you_ hit on."

"That's a wa-ay different ballgame, what I do is a cruel hobby-but if I'm spot on with this guy, then his hobby is much worse than mine."

Chiya shook her head negatively and began to mount the _Purring Kitten_, "Come to the café when you're ready to act grown up, and you'll see that he's just a normal funny guy."

Earl shook his fist at her, "Grown up? I'm just trying to protect you!"

She smirked at him, "Well thank you, but your protection is not needed at the moment."

He grinded his teeth in frustration as Chiya turned on the _Purring Kitten_ and left within seconds. Earl crossed his arms together and shook his head negatively, "Stubborn girl…"

"What the Hell did I just listen to?" asked Seppuku as he reappeared.

Earl grunted surprisingly, then realized that Seppuku never actually left the garage. Earl bit his lip and shook his head negatively, "That guy Chiya's with is trouble, and I know I'm gonna' have to stop her from jumping into something serious with him."

Seppuku face palmed and sighed, "You're sounding just like Flower now…"

"How do I possibly sound like Chiya?"

Seppuku tapped his foot constantly as he looked at Earl, "Remember months ago when you were on that date with, Maggie-or whatever her name was?"

Earl nodded, "The night Chiya got shot by Red Star several times?"

"Oh yes, did you know she got in that mess because of you?"

Earl widened his eyes, "N- no, what'd I do?"

"She was throwing all these random accusations at the girl, trying to convince me that she was a spy, an assassin, or even a Red Star gang member."

Earl grinned at him, "Well, good for her, she was staying vigilant," he snapped his fingers at Seppuku, "If Maggie were an actual threat, Chiya would have possibly saved me."

Seppuku grinned back, "She left the base that night pretty pissed off, eventually bringing her to that gang confrontation-then she was shot several times," he crossed his arms again at Earl, "Just leave her be, if it ends up being some abusive relationship, then kick his ass-if he steals her virginity, then that's her own fault."

Earl then shook his head with widened eyes, _Now I really wanna' stop this from happening… _Earl looked back up at him with a serious look, "I can't condone that, I want Chiya to be perfectly happy."

Seppuku growled and flailed his hands in the air, "Then just let her be! Christ almighty Bendek!" Earl took offense to this, but shrugged it off, "If you really wanna' put an end to this crap, just take her out yourself, she clearly has some affection towards you."

Earl shook his head negatively and began walking to his vehicle, choosing not to respond.

Seppuku sighed and shook his head disappointedly at Earl, "Fine, whatever, I honestly would prefer you two being single forever, I never got a woman and look how I turned out."

Earl took one look back and cringed, "Yeah, you're really living the life Seppuku," he responded sarcastically.

Minutes later, Earl somewhat obnoxiously stormed his way into the café, the first thing he could see was Chiya and Jason talking again while Bart cleaned glasses away from the two. Earl glared at Bart, though Bart was a man Earl greatly respected, he was becoming frustrated with him as he was supporting Jason.

"Hello Earl," Bart greeted with a smile.

Chiya and Jason then glanced over at Earl, Chiya waved at Earl with a concerned look. Earl stared back at her, he decided that he would just insert himself into the conversation this time, he had already gotten across to Chiya that he didn't like Jason, so being rude was at the least of his concerns. Earl sat down next to Jason with a smug look on his face, then grinned.

"Hello."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at Earl, "Are you feeling better now?"

Earl fake chuckled, "Oh yes, I am _much_ better now," Chiya bit her lip nervously, doubting Earl to some extent, "So what are we talking about?"

"Well I was talking about F-Zero with Chiya, but I guess we can talk about your things," Jason sneered back at him.

Earl clenched his fist and nodded, "I'm an F-Zero manager and maintain machines on a daily basis, so feel free to keep talking."

Jason looked back at Chiya, "Ah, okay then…" he grinned at Chiya, "I got two tickets to the first race, was wondering if you'd wanna' go?"

Earl widened his eyes, _Bastard's doing what I did with Chiya…_

Chiya giggled, "Well that's sweet, but I'm a racer this year-so I'll be on the actual track."

Earl smirked at Jason, _Ha, rejected..._

Jason had slightly gasped at this, "You didn't tell me you're an F-Zero racer, that's huge! Congratulations!"

Earl was tapping his fingers down constantly, "Yes, I'll be talking to her throughout the entire race via headset."

Chiya smiled, "Hey, maybe you can come up to our private booth with Earl and watch."

Earl got a look of discontent, "No wa- Seppuku would never allow anybody else up in the booth."

"But it's both a Chiya Flower and Lieutenant Seppuku booth now, meaning I can do what I want."

Earl shook his fist angrily near his waist, _Honestly, this is ridiculous…_

"Nah, I'm good, I'd rather talk to you-so I'll just watch from the stands."

Earl grinned and looked back at Chiya, she then rubbed her chin, "Well, maybe you could talk to me on the headset instead of Earl…"

Earl gasped and felt as if his heart had been crushed-mostly out of offense, "Uh, no-o, we're a team-Jason's a friend."

Chiya swished her hand at him, "Calm down Earl, I can handle myself on the track without your guidance."

Earl was grinding his teeth angrily at this point, even worse-Jason didn't seem to regard Earl's feelings at all, neither condoning or condemning this idea. _God I hate this guy, I was really off-he's not just gonna' have sex and then crush her feelings, he's gonna' end up killing her on the track…_ Earl and Chiya were having a stare off, she could see the anger in Earl's eyes, but all Earl could see was a carefree girl who wasn't regarding his feelings at all. Earl shook his head negatively at her, then looked over at Bart-he was minding his own business completely. Earl growled and looked back at her, a look of authority on his face.

"That's not happening Chiya, I'm sorry."

She gave him an angry look, "I thought you were calmed down…"

"I am! But I'm not gonna' let you crash and burn just because you-" he shook his head in frustration, choosing not to complete the sentence, "Whatever, you either talk to me, or drive in silence, but I sure as Hell won't let you race distracted."

Chiya began to grind her teeth in frustration somewhat, before Jason slapped his hand down on the counter, "Don't worry Chiya, just let the man have his way."

_Have his way? What am I some little child that needs appeasement?_

Chiya nodded at him, "Well Earl's going to obviously play hostilely when it comes to F-Zero, but we could go somewhere else later," she proposed.

Earl had a sarcastic looking grin on his face, Jason nodded with a cool look on his face, "Sounds good, where were you thinking?"

Chiya looked at Earl with a smirk, it was as if she was trying to upset Earl at this point, "Somewhere fun."

Earl began tapping his fingers constantly and looked back at Jason, "Well, I could bring you back to my place, I have a lot of expensive things there…"

Earl widened his eyes, _I knew it! This is exactly what I thought he'd do!_

Chiya shook her head negatively, "No-o, I was thinking about a public place."

_At least she has the brain to reject the obvious…_

Jason had a disappointed look, then smirked again, "Maybe a more private restaurant?" He was slightly looking at Earl when he said this, clearly hinting that he wanted to go somewhere that he wouldn't pester them at.

"That sounds fun, it'll be great," she said once again looking into Earl's eyes with a grin.

At this point Earl knew that Chiya was either trying to make him angry or jealous, but she clearly was acting so coolheaded about the proposed date because Earl was present. Earl lowered his eyebrows angrily at Chiya, then grinned at her preparing to disarm her.

"Good for you Chiya, I knew you'd get this far with someone eventually."

Chiya instantly widened her eyes and gritted her teeth with a surprised look, Earl was faking his smile-but was making it look realistic. She had a look that was easily revealing that she was indeed trying to get under Earl's skin.

"Thanks…" she muttered.

In all actuality, Earl was enraged at the date they had established with each other-everything was going exactly as he foresaw, especially the proposal to take her back to his house.

"I don't mean to further intrude, but Seppuku had something he wanted to do with you tonight, so right after your date-I'd propose coming straight home."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, but Earl still had a devious grin on his face-he was lying of course, merely making sure that Jason didn't get any chance to bring her back to his place.

"What does he want from me?"

Earl shrugged, "Not sure, he just wanted me to tell you that before I left."

Chiya nodded at him, "Then I'll head straight home after the restaurant."

Jason looked at Earl angrily, "Well I'd like you to come by my place some time though, I have a pool."

Earl snapped his fingers and looked away, _A pool, well played-that'll grab her attention…_

"Well that sounds neat, I'll check it out another time when I'm more free," said Chiya.

Earl gritted his teeth in frustration, the two had different thoughts on Jason's intentions of bringing her back home, Earl thinking it was for sexual desires, Chiya thinking that he wanted to show off his expensive home. Earl rubbed his chin, preparing to bring up something that would be very awkward-especially in front of Chiya.

"So I heard Mute City is going to stop teaching Sexual Education in person, and make all students learn about it on a computer instead," said Earl as he looked away from Chiya.

Chiya got an appalled look at Earl, "What the-"

"What do you think about that Jason?"

Chiya slowly turned her head towards Jason, she wasn't allowed to swear or talk inappropriately at work, so she had little say in the matter. Jason began to chuckle to himself as he looked down at his hands.

"Dunno' that was so long ago since I had that lesson in, and admittedly I was thinking more about the sex-rather than the education," he said while still chuckling.

Earl grinned at him victoriously, _Bulls-eye…_ he thought looking back up at Chiya. She now had a slightly distressed look on her face, glancing at Earl quickly, then back at Jason.

"Huh…" she muttered as she dipped her head down.

Earl still had a victorious smile on his face, he felt while this was a very awkward and rude thing to bring up-he did expose Jason somewhat right in front of her, meaning he could still use the excuse that he was protecting her. She no longer had the challenging look towards Earl, but did seem somewhat bothered by him now-yet almost thankful.

"I think we should get going Jason," she said pointing at the door.

Earl got a smug look on his face again, but wasn't very surprised that she was still willing to go on a date with him-he was hoping that she would try avoiding his house more however.

Jason nodded at her with a grin, "Well alright!"

The two then began walking away from the counter, Earl left sitting still on his stool-waiting for Chiya and Jason to leave together. He continued to stare aimlessly in front of him, he was having a difficult time bearing the thought that these two were about to leave for a restaurant. He could tell they left moments later when a vehicle could be heard driving off from the café.

"So you were pretty successful today then, huh?" asked Bart.

Earl looked at Bart somewhat angrily, "Damn right, that guys a creep, and I just proved it right in front of her."

"But she still went with him…"

Earl shrugged, "I'll work on it, the best thing would be if he continued to screw up on the date, then all I have to do is pull her away from him."

"You know, even if he is someone not to trust, she won't be learning anything from this if you're always there to catch her."

Earl slammed his fist down angrily, "Am I hearing this right, you of all people-are agreeing with Seppuku that I should just let Chiya get nail-"

"That is not what I'm saying, I'm saying you should let her figure that one out on her own, don't you trust that she would reject any _invitations_?"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Honestly no, I truly think that Chiya might submit to him, then she'd be dumped, no longer a virgin, and sitting in her room for the next week depressed-then she'd never compete well in the Grand Prix," Bart continued to look at him with a blank expression, "-and who do you think has to cheer her up then? Seppuku? Yeah right, it's always me."

Bart smirked at him, "You know, if Jason is a womanizer, you're not being a very good role model either…"

"I'm no womanizer!"

"But she doesn't know that, I'll admit-Jason does come in looking for _babes_, as he calls them; but so do you."

Earl shook his head constantly, "When I first met Chiya, I hit on her like any other good-looking girl I meet, but all I do with my dates is flirt, kiss, and gloat on about how awesome I am."

"Yes, which is what she may think Jason's like, therefore what kind of impression are you trying to make? She probably does just think you're jealous, not seeing any difference between you two," Earl lowered his eyebrows, contemplating what to do, "Honestly, until _you_ stop doing this, I don't think she'll really see your point very well."

Earl sighed and looked down, "Geese, that's such a sacrifice though-that'd be giving up a part of who I am, just so someone else could have a better romantic life."

"I bet she'd listen to you though, if you established that you were done dating every woman you found suitable."

Earl exhaled and put his fingers together, mostly thinking about Chiya rather than himself, "I am twenty-nine in a few days, maybe it is time to stop…"

Bart nodded affirmatively, then looked Earl in the eyes, "If you would give up something so important, just to prove a point to Chiya, then she will listen to you."

Earl's hand began to tremble on the counter, but he ultimately sighed and nodded his head, "I guess that chapter of my life is done then," he brushed his hair and looked up at Bart, "Fine, I'm done. From now on, I only scout for girls I would marry."

"Like Ms. Flower."

Earl widened his eyes and looked at him suspiciously, he then slowly narrowed his eyes, "You sneaky bastard, I see what you're really up to now…" Bart raised an eyebrow at him, "It's not at all that you think she'll listen to me, it's that you want me to compete with Jason."

Bart half-closed his eyes and looked away, "Well, judging from what I saw on Christmas, you may have an advantage over Jason…"

Earl chuckled at him, "Don't you see though, this wouldn't be getting us anywhere, because I don't feel comfortable getting serious with Chiya, therefore as soon as I did lure her back to me, I'd just find her trying to get me to watch a movie with her again-I really can't win."

"The choice is yours…" Bart simply said with a grin.

Earl made grunting sounds as he shook his head negatively.

Earl later returned to work on the _Red Dove_, he did stay with his decision to stop dating as a hobby, but was planning on simply using this as a way to get Chiya's attention, not sway her. He was still working on the _Red Dove_ effectively, but he was having a hard time concentrating-he was so frightened that Jason would successfully have his way with her, he feared this more than any other scenario simply because Chiya would be devastated if they proceeded to break up afterwards. He found that the _Red Dove_ may need a tune-up if it was to compete on a hot track like Fire Field, as his machine was naturally prone to overheating as it was. The _Purring Kitten_ was a different story however, the machine was built perfectly and could stand both the heat and cold without a problem.

"I just spoke with Seppuku…" Chiya said from behind him.

Earl gasped at her sudden presence, but then felt like an idiot-the _Purring Kitten_ was currently in the garage, so naturally she was home the whole time.

"I never saw you get back, strange…"

"Seppuku informed me that he had nothing for me to do, he then proceeded to kick me out of his office, care to explain?"

Earl rubbed the back of his head, not thinking this plan through enough, he then shook his head angrily and looked at her, "I had to make sure he didn't take you back to his place."

Chiya got an offended look on her face, "Why? What's wrong with that?"

Earl groaned and looked away uncomfortably, "Oh come on, don't make me say it…" She tapped her feet impatiently for a response, Earl then sighed, "He's going to try bringing you back home for sex-there I said it, that's my problem with this asshole."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "That's not true, he's not like that at all."

"What are you talking about? Did you not hear his response to my Sex Ed. Question?"

"Yes, that was very inappropriate of you Earl."

Earl nodded in agreement, "-and I'm sorry, but I know this guy-he's a more dirty version of me, I can tell that he's a womanizer."

Chiya pointed at him angrily, "No he isn't, he's just had lots of girlfriends, like you."

Earl chuckled at her, "Yeah, well Bart convinced me to stop now-I'm no longer hitting on random girls."

She rolled her eyes and whipped her head up, "Finally!"

Earl grunted at her response, but felt that he had appeased her in some way, "Look, Chiya, I'm truly sorry if I'm interfering with your love life, but please for the love of God…" she blinked at him constantly, anticipating some kind of hard response, "Just don't let him have his way with you, I beg of you."

Chiya began to turn red somewhat in embarrassment, "N- no, of course not, only with the man I plan on marrying."

Earl pointed at her, "I hope you're not planning on marrying him after _just_ meeting him!"

Chiya glanced away from him, "I'm not getting sexually involved with him anytime soon, I'm strong enough that I can resist."

Earl grinned at her, "Good, but I'm still not condoning this relationship, I know you're just climbing your way up for a big fall…"

Chiya challengingly grinned back at him, "He's a great guy, and I'll prove this to you…"

Chiya and Earl continued to stare at each other motionlessly, both in a friendly war with each other. Earl didn't want to impose too much on her life, but he knew that he would continue following the two up until the end-Earl was positive that Jason Knox wasn't right for her.

To be continued…


	21. Lap 20

==Lap 20=

Two days later, Earl was in Seppuku's office at the whiteboard drawing several diagrams, Seppuku was studying his drawings carefully. Once again Chiya was absent from the meeting, something Seppuku could expect from her by now-she was continuing to spend the past days with Jason Knox, and Earl was as frustrated as ever. Earl had a cup of coffee in his left hand as he drew, it was late in the afternoon.

"Since Fire Field has a very tubular shaped track, you and Chiya can get separated very easily, so what I'm thinking is that Chiya should stay closely behind you."

Seppuku nodded at him, "What about our rivals? I can't guard Flower if she's behind me the whole time."

Earl hummed affirmatively and drank out of his cup, "About that…" Seppuku crossed his arms and then exhaled, "The Purring Kitten could easily lose gravity on this track if she is going fast enough and getting knocked around enough-therefore I think you should give her a break and keep anyone from even touching her, just slow down and fight Blaskovitz or Blood Falcon if they're catching up."

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "That's a big risk; mind you, we _are_ trying to race."

"Well no problem, Chiya's a very capable driver, I'm sure if you keep her safe enough, she'll stay up in the lead."

Seppuku threw his fist down angrily, "I would hope so, she's been driving her F-Zero machine constantly, ever since she first got it."

Earl smiled and began to daze, thinking back happily to the joy he brought her when he had completed the _Purring Kitten._ Chiya had been so shocked and overjoyed, Earl had surprised her by having the prototype _Purring Kitten_ outside of the garage when she woke up, she had been in love with it even if it wasn't painted. Earl shook his head with a sad look, feeling that Chiya had changed so much throughout the months she worked with the two.

"Anyways…" he then looked back at the board, "I believe Brock Blaskovitz should have a real drawback in this race, the temperature here will be unbearable-and he's driving a hover bike."

Seppuku snapped his fingers, "That's right, it'll be an over on him-making him an easy target."

Earl smirked at him, "For sure, I have to fear for Chiya since this is her first race, and I'm sure Blaskovitz and Blood Falcon will want her dead on the track."

"Do you know if Dark Rose or Excalibur is in the Grand Prix?"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Dark Rose, maybe-Excalibur, no."

Chiya was approaching the door to Seppuku's office with a nervous look, almost as if she were distressed. She knew Earl and Seppuku were in the office judging by the light under the door, her eyes were nearly closed as she approached the door-she seemed fearful about something. She opened the door slowly and entered, her legs trembling somewhat as she walked in.

"If Dark Rose _is_ racing however, we'll need to know how to stop any three-way attacks, since I'm sure those three will work tog-" Earl then grunted at the sight of Chiya.

Seppuku looked over at her and gritted his teeth in shock, Chiya looked away from the two shyly, gritting her teeth momentarily. Earl and Seppuku both could see something that was disturbing them somewhat. Earl began to tug on the collar of his shirt while lowered his eyebrows at her, glancing away from her awkwardly.

"Hello Chiya, you look-different…"

Chiya was standing still nervously with a new shirt on-only this one was revealing a large amount of cleavage. Seppuku grinded his teeth at Chiya angrily, momentarily slamming his fist down in rage.

"What the Hell do you think this is Flower, some kind of crack house?"

Earl was having a difficult time looking at Chiya, heavily disturbed by her decision to wear something so revealing-as she was normally opposed to wearing anything besides a turtleneck shirt. Chiya rubbed her boot along the floor shyly as she looked down, she was clearly uncomfortable by this as well.

"I stopped by the mall and bought this, what do you think?"

Earl slowly looked back at her, but had a look of awe, "Uh, quite frankly, I think-"

"Take that crap off Flower! That's way out of character for you…" Seppuku demanded angrily.

Earl tugged on his shirt again and closed his eyes, "Honestly, I picture that you might start wearing a T-shirt eventually, but I agree-this seems a bit out of character for you…"

Chiya dipped her head down, "Jason told me that a lot of supermodels did this, and that I sh-"

Earl hit his fist against the whiteboard angrily, "Of course this is his doing!"

Chiya gritted her teeth and shook her hands at him, "No, he's right, I'm a girl and should be using God's gifts, even if it feels really creepy…"

Earl began to charge over to her, "To Hell with Jason! This is drawing the line…"

Chiya growled at him silently, "I thought you and Seppuku wanted me to be more hot!"

Earl found himself looking down at her cleavage, immediately cringing afterwards with a shiver down his spine, "I- I like you the way you are Chiya, cute and soft-that's the girl I like, not like _this_!"

Seppuku nodded in agreement, "When I said hot, I meant more like Dark Rose-you just look like a slut."

Chiya growled again as she took offense to both Earl and Seppuku, "Whatever, Jason thought I would look good wearing this, so that's all that matters!"

Earl got an authoritative look as he narrowed his eyes at her, "That sick bastard isn't getting one look at this, not if I have anything to say about it…"

Chiya shook her head negatively, "What? Are you going to forbid me from leaving the base or something?"

Earl angrily took a sip from his coffee, then shook his head negatively, "You look beautiful just the way you normally dress, if Jason thinks you need cleavage to look good-then I hope he gets his ass kicked in an alley!"

Chiya glared at him with a grin, "Well guess what, I'm leaving, bye!"

Earl then growled loudly at her, then completely splashed her shirt with his coffee. Seppuku gasped at this, then got somewhat of a grin on his face, "Nice…"

Chiya slowly turned at him with an appalled look, looking down at her completely drenched shirt-now stained with the golden pigment of the coffee. She stomped her foot down furiously at Earl, "What the Hell is your problem!?"

Earl smirked at her, "Sorry, I'm sure that'll come right out…" he said sarcastically.

Chiya flailed her arms up in the air as she moved towards the door, "Well that's just great Earl! Now I have to take a shower, a-and put on my normal shirt."

Earl got a serious look on his face, "Trust me, you'll thank me later…"

Seppuku nodded at Earl in agreement, "Yeah, Bendek did something right for once."

Chiya glared back at the two with a fake smile, "Yeah, thanks for covering me in your germ infested coffee!" she then slammed the door shut angrily.

Earl nodded at the door, feeling bad for doing this to Chiya-but aside from his hatred for Jason, he felt that he would have doused her in coffee as long as she was wearing such a shirt.

"Alright, I'm on board with you Earl, this guy must be trouble."

Earl turned around in excitement, "Thank you! See? What kind of normal guy recommends his innocent girlfriend to a revealing shirt like that?"

Seppuku nodded at him, "Someone who wants to get under that shirt…"

Several minutes later, Earl worked alone in the garage-he was now tearing apart the _Purring Kitten_'s engine as he had planned to do with Chiya originally, preparing to rebuild it for maximum effect. He was also planning on cleaning it out, making sure that it was a perfectly maintained engine that wouldn't risk overheating on a track like Fire Field.

"This thing seems stained by the exhaust, she must really rev up that engine…"

"Well of course, riding an F-Zero machine is so much fun, especially when you're out in Red Canyon where you can go maximum speed!" Chiya said excitedly from behind.

Earl turned around quickly, then grinned at her, "Ah, you don't seem overly pissed with me, thank God…"

She shrugged at him with a smile, "I'm actually glad you did that, I hated that shirt," Earl nodded at her happily, "Now I can just tell Jason that you spilt coffee on it, which is why I can't wear it."

Earl lowered his eyebrows angrily, "Why even mention that you bought it? You're just promoting the idea that you may jump in bed…"

"Earl I promise you, I'm not going _that _far, only with the man I know I'm marrying."

Earl hummed at her doubtfully, but nodded none-the-less, he clearly didn't believe her, but found that it was something he didn't want to talk to her about. Chiya dipped her head down nervously at Earl, beginning to swirl her foot around.

"But, I uh…" Earl raised an eyebrow at her nervously, wondering what _but_ was going to mean, "I was think I might move on to kissing…"

Earl held his stomach painfully at the sound of this, "Jesus…"

Chiya looked back at him with a shy look, "I uh, I don't actually know how to do this though…" Earl widened his eyes at her, "Didn't you have a boyfriend on Mysteria?"

"Yeah, but he was sick minded and thought I'd go _places_ right after prom night-our first date," Earl shook his head in discontent, somewhat feeling ill at the thought of Chiya and Jason getting further in this relationship so quickly, "You've been with a lot of girls before, so I thought maybe you could, uh…"

Earl cringed, knowing what she was about to ask him.

"Maybe you could teach me how? Like what do I do? When do I?"

Earl groaned and looked back at her, "I really do dislike Jason, why do you think I'd help this sick bastard make out with you?"

Chiya looked him in the eyes sadly, "Because you're my best friend…"

Earl sighed and then exhaled, looking back at her, "Alright, I'll imagine that you're going to be in the café or something," Chiya nodded at him affirmatively, Earl then closed in on her, "Once you see the guy getting up close and personal, that's a good pre-warning that a kiss is coming up."

"Okay."

She then widened her eyes as Earl wrapped his arms around her, a smirk on his face, "At this point, you should realize that he's inviting you for the kiss…"

Chiya looked at Earl with quivering eyes, the two stood like this motionlessly for a few seconds. Earl momentarily nodded and looked down at her face, "Then y-"

Chiya nervously gritted her teeth and nodded, "Am I suppose to then make the move, or does he, or do we both go simultaneously?"

Earl continued looking into her eyes, soon realizing what he was doing-he let go and stepped back with a disappointed look, "Not gonna' lie, you'll just figure it out right on the spot as it happens…"

Chiya slowly nodded at him affirmatively, Earl continued to look at her with a distressed look, _This bastard shouldn't be the first person Chiya kisses, why the Hell can't she just see that he's a womanizer and is using her?_ Earl finally began to growl again, once again letting his angry emotions get ahead of him.

"Why the Hell is this the kind of guy you want to date!?" he sneered with his fist clenched.

Chiya widened her eyes in shock, then lowered her eyebrows in anger, "Quit demonizing him Earl, we enjoy each others company, that should be enough to declare it a good relationship!"

Earl shook his head negatively, "You're going to be a famous F-Zero racer, of all the guys that will soon be wanting you-you're choosing this idiot who'll likely hit you across the face with a bottle of beer one day," Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, taking offense to yet another bad remark, "You're a fun, sweet, talented girl, why can't you find someone better, someone more honorable and similar, someone-"

"Like you?"

Earl's eyebrow began to twitch at the question, "N- wait, yeah, like me, find someone like me who likes you for who you are."

"He does like me for who I am."

"No-o, I would find you pretty even if you had another thirty pounds of weight-someone like him would find this a major turnoff, and probably insult you if nothing else."

Chiya stomped her foot down, "That's it Earl, I'm getting tired of you, I have both a job, an F-Zero machine, a boyfriend, I can leave this damn organization whenever I wish," she pointed her finger at him angrily, "I only stay because I like you, but you're just being a manipulative jerk right now!"

Earl stomped his foot down as well, "For the last time, I'm just trying to keep you from losing something special, several things at this point, don't you think I know what I'm talking about considering I've been so persistent on this guy?"

"I'm not talking to you, drive me to the café, and I will speak again."

Earl had taken out the engine of the _Purring Kitten_, leaving her stranded at the base. He smirked at her proposal, feeling that she was implying that she was more mature than him, "What, I'm being muted? For trying to protect you?"

Chiya swiftly moved her hand across her mouth like a zipper, Earl shook his head negatively at her, "I guess if it gives me another chance to save you, then sure, I'll drive you…"

Earl and Chiya were now driving down the streets of the Lower City, Chiya was refusing to speak however. Earl observed the Lower City sadly, he felt that Chiya was much harder to deal with the past month-mainly because of her sudden interest in romance, Earl just wanted things back the way they use to be, where they were a team and Chiya was only focusing on her F-Zero dreams. He glanced over at Chiya, who had her head slightly turned away in frustration. _Stupid romance, a few months ago she was obsessing over F-Zero and the Grand Prix, now the Grand Prix is mere days away-and Jason is all she can think about…_ he sighed and looked back at the road, preparing to enter the Upper City.

"So Seppuku and me believe that you should stay behind him slightly at the first race, the track's spiral so you could easily get separated from each other," Chiya looked back at Earl with an intrigued look, "I'm not saying you should let him win, but if you stay behind him, you'll be able to see where he drifts off to, otherwise you could risk facing Blaskovitz alone."

Chiya broke her angry look and rubbed her chin, "Did you mention something about Dark Rose racing before I walked in the office?" She already broke down, breaking her deal not to talk before reaching the cafe.

"She _is_ you, therefore she's probably one damn good racer…"

Chiya somewhat smiled at the compliment, "I will admit, she'd boost my ratings if she raced, because we'd probably be rivaling each other."

Earl right turned and began driving down a long stretch, the slope leading to the Upper City far up ahead. He was somewhat relieved to see that he had a solution to Chiya's anger, all he needed to do if she was beginning to get frustrated-was bring up F-Zero and throw in some compliments.

Earl looked over at her and poked her left arm, "I don't really care that Seppuku's our friend, _do not_ trust him-if you see an opportunity to win the race, then take it; I'm sure he would take first place rather than helping you in a battle."

Chiya somewhat gasped at him, "He would leave me with Black Shadow's goons just to win a race?"

Earl exhaled somewhat doubtfully, "I- I'm not sure, just- I wouldn't put it past him, is what I'm saying."

Chiya nodded at him, "Boy I'm excited for the Grand Prix!"

"Well thank God, I'm excited to do this thing with you-especially since we could win a billion credits."

Chiya gleefully smiled at him again, "Hey, do you think I could race while holding a phone?"

Earl slowly narrowed his eyes at her, "Wh-hy?"

"I was thinking that I could talk to you on the headset, and Jason on a phone-that solves everything."

Earl growled and looked away from her, once again focusing on the road. Chiya face palmed, realizing that it was a mistake to bring him up again, Earl did manage to get across to Chiya that he didn't just dislike Jason-he hated him. _Damn you Bart Lemming, why did you have to offer her that stupid job…_ Earl was also feeling offended that she was being paid just as much as him, as all she did was talk with her boyfriend for hours. Chiya held her forehead and looked away from Earl, she had a distressed look on her face as if she were sad about something.

"Earl, maybe if you got to know Ja-"

Earl then zipped his mouth at her, she was immediately offended at this and pouted with her arms crossed.

Chiya and Earl walked towards the entrance of the café together, but the tension between the two was fairly strong-Chiya condemning the idea of him actually coming inside with her.

"You can leave now, I don't want you to pester us with your negativity…"

Earl shook his head negatively as they walked, "No, no, I wanna' get to know this guy, as you proposed."

"No, you just wanna' demonize him yet again, and probably bring up more unnecessary sexual things," Earl smirked at her, confirming that he planned on doing this again, "Besides, we're leaving the café soon anyways."

"To where?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!" she hissed back, Earl continued to stare at her as he grabbed the door for her, "Well actually, I don't know yet."

Earl was greatly displeased to see Jason already sitting at a stool looking at her, wearing his signature black leather coat. Earl and Jason's eyes met, but both clearly had great disinterest in the other, as both glared at each other. Chiya swished her hand back at Earl as she walked towards Jason.

"He's being a bit overprotective again, he'll leave in a moment…"

Bart was watching the three with a concerned look, every time they entered the café, relations were worse between the three-it didn't appear that there would be any good comments off the bat.

"Overprotective? Damn right I am."

Jason lowered his eyebrows at Earl, "You seem to have quite an attachment to Chiya, but you should just lay off already, let the girl have a fun time…"

Earl stomped his foot down and shook angrily at him, "I want her to have both a fun _and_ safe time!"

Chiya shook her head at him, "We have been, nothing bad has happened the past few days while we were out in Mute City-shouldn't that prove to you already that Jason's cool?"

"No, not really, considering he's had many girlfriends before, I'm guessing something went wrong in each of those scenarios."

Chiya looked back at Jason, but he merely tugged his shirt slightly, "N- not really, I just wasn't interested in any of them, like I am Chiya."

"See? I'm just a better girlfriend, that's all."

Earl smirked at him, "So Jason, who was your last girlfriend?" Chiya angrily glared at him, Jason raising an eyebrow at him, "What was her name?"

"I'm not telling you that…"

Earl chuckled at him, "Why? Are you afraid if I ask her some questions about your relationship, I might learn something bad?"

Jason grunted and shook his head negatively, "We just weren't compatible, nothing bad happened!"

Chiya marched towards Earl and began pushing him towards the door, "Get out of here Earl, you're being mean."

Earl put his foot down firmly and asserted his position, "Why? Jesus Christ, why didn't I think of that earlier, I could just do a background check and prove that this guy is bad, all I need to do is ask his past girlfriends questions."

Jason had a nervous and angry look, his fists clenched while looking at Earl. Chiya continued trying to push him towards the door, but to no avail. "In fact, I bet if I checked-he probably has some kind of sexual diseas-"

Chiya then roughly slapped Earl across the face, sending him towards the door. Jason grinned at the sight of this, Bart gasped and held his hand out over the counter.

"Ms. Flower!" he yelled.

Chiya retracted her hand and looked back at Earl, "I'm just a customer today, we're leaving."

Earl got back on his feet quickly with a frustrated look, but he decided not to take offense to her slapping-as he provoked it himself. Jason was rubbing his hands together franticly, as if he were being closed in by Earl's suspicions.

"Ch- Chiya, I think we should get going!"

She turned towards him and nodded, "Where to?"

Earl stood back up quickly, "You can run, but I'll find you! I'm going to search high and low until I find my proof!"

Chiya and Jason both grunted nervously at him, Jason now being wide-eyed grabbed Chiya's shoulder, "He can't follow us at my place, I've got a pool, there's a soccer match to watch on TV, and all the snacks you could need."

Earl stepped back wide-eyed and began to shake his head in disbelief-but Chiya nodded affirmatively at him, "Good idea, Earl can't pester us there, it'd be illegal to."

Earl gasped and shook his head at her, "Okay, alright, just hold on Chiya, this is what I've been trying to keep you from doing the past days, don't do this…"

Chiya immediately swiped her finger towards his forehead, "Stop it already! I just want to see the damn pool and maybe watch a game, just stop being such a stalker already!"

Earl continued to shake his head negatively, "No, no, please no Chiya, you-"

"Leave me be Earl, we're done here, and if you even show your face around our date today, then I'm leaving and doing this Grand Prix on my damn own!"

Earl continued to shake his head, taking careful steps back, he didn't know how he could stop her at this point-Jason just had a victorious smile on his face, staring at the defeated Earl. Chiya nodded at Earl and began walking out the door with Jason, Earl slowly brought himself to the stool in front of Bart-holding his head in shame and disbelief. Bart had a very concerned look on his face, easily able to tell that Earl felt destroyed. Earl collapsed onto the stool and held his head down in pain, shaking it against his arms slowly.

"Earl, can I get you anything?"

He lifted his finger up, "Just a cup…"

Bart quickly prepared a cup of coffee for him, but Earl was hiding his face on his sleeves, face planted on the counter. Bart exhaled and carefully put the cup next to Earl, but he didn't actually seem to interested in the coffee. The two remained silent for a few seconds, before Earl finally exhaled-only faintly.

"Why, did I fail to protect her?" he clenched his fist while shaking his head some more, "I tried so hard to stop this from happening, why didn't she at least consider the possibility-"

"Because perhaps Jason is just a regular guy?"

Earl shook his head again, still not lifting his head up though, "He's not, I gave up my life of dating random girls to prove this-was my sacrifice not enough to show how certain I am?"

Bart gritted his teeth slowly, then got a stern look on his face, momentarily hitting his fist on the counter, "Come on Earl, do you love Chiya?"

The question sent a shock going down Earl's entire body, he clenched his fists and slowly raised his head-revealing a few streams of tears and watery eyes. Bart glanced away from him for a moment, not realizing that he was crying.

"Months ago, the day Seppuku revealed to her that I was a mass murderer in the Korean Civil War, I was appalled and scared, I truly believed that she would find me some kind of monster," he shook his head slightly as he thought back, "She was the only one I ever met who just accepted it, her opinion of me hadn't changed, she stood by me still."

Earl carefully grabbed the coffee and took a sip from it, rubbing his eyes momentarily, "If you were in my shoes, you would understand why she matters so much to me, but no one but me will ever understand my motives-not even her."

Bart slowly nodded at him, "She is lucky to have you as a friend, but even if Jason is a womanizer as you claim, you haven't been going about this very correctly," Earl lowered his eyebrows at him, "You just keep stalking and attacking, as if you're jealous, why not just keep Chiya informed and keep her on the right path, instead of trying to break them up."

Earl swished his hand at him, "Because I want them to break up, I don't get why I do, I just can't stand the thought of those two together," he held his forehead and began tapping his cheek, "I felt like I was gonna' faint when she asked me how to kiss him…"

Earl then glared at him angrily with one eye, "I thought Captain Falcon would help me with this, considering I fixed the Blue Falcon for him after what Seppuku did…"

Bart smirked at him, "Captain Falcon is a crime fighter, racer, and bounty hunter; he wouldn't waste time explaining to Chiya why someone isn't good for her."

"Well, it's too late now, Chiya's going to give in to temptation, then we'll both be miserable after she's dumped…" he shook his head slightly, "-and the worst part is, I can't do anything to stop this from happening…"

Bart grinned at him, "Well, that ship's sailed, but there is one thing you can do for her that'll appease her whether it goes good or bad…" Earl looked up at him curiously, Bart slipped him a piece of paper with an address, "Wait for her, be there waiting for her with a ride, the best you can do is let her choose her own path, but be there and comfort her decision."

Earl grunted and continued looking at the address, he knew Earl had a point-he could do his part, but the rest was up to Chiya.

Chiya had a slightly disappointed look, she was looking down at a large bathtub.

"Th- that's not a pool…"

Jason smirked, "Ye-eah, I guess it's not, it's kind of like one though because of the enormous size."

Chiya grinned and shrugged, "Well I didn't bring a swimsuit anyways, so there's nothing that could be done there anyways."

She then walked out of the bathroom, Jason momentarily following her. Chiya was not as impressed with his home, it was in an apartment, but the way he described it made it sound like a penthouse. Chiya put her hands on her waist and nodded as she looked around the living room.

"It's much better than where I live," she said with a smile.

"Well of course it is."

Chiya dropped her smile at the response, then looked around the living room-the TV was not nearly as good as the one she had, "So-o when does the game come on?"

He shrugged at her with a grin, "Not sure, we'll just have to do something while we wait."

She blinked at him a few times in confusion, then walked up to the TV, "Where's the remote? I can find o-"

"I dunno' I don't even think there's a game on today."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows in confusion, "Wha- well, why would you even say that then?"

"I wanted you to come here so we could get away from that freakish stalker."

She stood back up and shook her head somewhat in disagreement, "He's not a freakish stalker, he's just a bit overprotective is all-he doesn't want you to just mug me while we're here alone."

"Whatever, there's other rooms that are interesting, like the bedroom, kitchen, attic, and bedroom."

Chiya widened her eyes at him impressed, "This small apartment can fit two bedrooms?"

He shook his head negatively, "No, just the one."

Chiya nodded with a disappointed look, "So uh, if there's no game, then we should probably go somewhere else…"

Jason had walked into the kitchen and was preparing beverages, "Nah, let's just talk for a bit, over a glass."

Chiya nodded her head, "Alright, sounds good."

"I'm unemployed right now, but it's fine because my parents pay for this place, I'll get a job eventually though."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Unemployed?"

Jason smirked at her, "Yeah, I like to party and scout out good looking girls, a job would just tie me down-not to mention it sounds pretty damn boring."

"Then find a job that fits you, I could help you search for one," she said with a smile.

"Na-ah, unless my parents die, I don't need one." _Well that's kind of unfair…_ she thought in frustration, "If you ever wanna' pay me back for the dates we've been on, I'd be pretty grateful."

Chiya widened her eyes, "Pay you back? But those were just dates."

"Well, you did order quite a lot at that restaurant, yet you do an amazing job maintaining."

Chiya blushed at this and put her finger on her lip, "Thank you, I used to be fat when I had a cookie addiction…"

"Well thank God you lost those pounds, I hate fat woman-disgusting to say the least."

"No-o, I would find you pretty even if you had another thirty pounds of weight-someone like him would find this a major turnoff, and probably insult you if nothing else."

Chiya shook her head, getting the image of Earl out of her head-Jason had walked over with two glasses. He handed her a blood-red colored drink with a powerful scent, Chiya raised an eyebrow at the drink.

"What is this, grape juice?"

She then took a sip from it, but immediately widened her eyes in complete shock, spitting out the small amount she had put in her mouth, "What is this!?"

"Eisbock beer, very expensive-so I wouldn't mind if you drank it, rather than spewing it out…"

Chiya stuck her tongue out in disgust and was trying to get the alcohol off of it, "I hate alcohol, I want nothing to ever do with it."

Jason chuckled at her as he took another sip, "Oh come on, that's what you say when you're a kid, you're twenty-four in a few days…" she shook her head negatively, handing the glass back to Jason, but he pushed it back towards her, "Just drink it, let loose, you'll like it if you try it."

Chiya locked her eyes on the beer with an intense stare, but ultimately shook her head negatively, handing it back to him, "No."

He smiled at her then took it out of her hands, "Alright, no problem-I guess I like throwing five credits worth of beer down the sink."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly at the response, "I'm sorry, I just don't like alcohol or the effects it has on people."

Jason began to chuckle as he drank his, "Don't fret about it, just pay me back whenever you can."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows somewhat angrily, _He's being more of a jerk than usual, what's going on?_ "Are you feeling okay Jason? You seem a bit…"

"Na-ah, I'm so glad you finally came over, it's so much better here than that café, where I'm constantly attacked by that guy," Chiya looked down sadly and bit her lip, "Like, why doesn't Bart just kick him out?"

"I don't wanna' talk about Earl right now, I can't risk getting angry at him while we're so close to the Grand Prix."

Jason rubbed his chin and nodded respectfully, "Alright, no problem…" he then began walking towards a door with the glass of beer in his hand still.

Chiya quickly began to follow him, _He's clearly upset about something, almost like he's suddenly changing…_ she entered the room with him, but quickly gasped at the sight of the bedroom. Jason quickly closed the door and stretched, Chiya gritted her teeth nervously and observed the rooms surroundings-her eyes quivering in fear, especially since he closed the door.

"This is the bedroo-"

"Can we see that attic you were talking about?" she asked nervously with a fake smile.

Jason chuckled, "Hold your horses Chiya, there's nothing as interesting in there, let me finish…" Chiya swallowed nervously, beginning to think that Earl could have been right after all, "This is probably the most expensive room I own, mostly the bed-it was thirty-thousand credits."

Chiya gasped in disbelief, "Thirty-th- no way, what could possibly make it so expensive?"

Jason leapt onto the bed and began pressing down on the surface, "It's probably the most comfortable bed you could ever sleep on," he inched his finger at Chiya, "Go ahead, _is it _the most comfortable bed you've ever seen?"

Chiya walked towards the bed and held out her hand, she pressed down on the surface and was amazed at how it felt-almost like a giant durable pillow. She put both her hands on it and began pressing down on it, her hands sank right into the bed with ease.

"That's amazi-"

He then tugged on her arm roughly, knocking her down onto the bed somewhat, her legs were still on the floor however. Her face was planted onto the bed, but found that she didn't hurt her nose falling-the bed was that good. Chiya could feel her heart beating quickly as she looked at him, assuming that he was indeed trying to get somewhere with her. She rolled onto her back quickly with a distressed look, nodding at him quickly.

"Yes, this is a very comfortable bed, I outta' get one for myself…"

Jason smirked at her, "I'll let you sleep here one of these days if you stay over night, trust me-it'll be the best slumber you ever have."

She lowered her eyebrows and looked away, "I'm not sure I would be available any ti-"

She then gasped as she felt Jason's finger go down her turtleneck, tugging on her collar softly. Chiya's mouth and eyes were both quivering at this, there was no longer a doubt in her mind that while he may not be a womanizer, he was indeed trying to have sex with her. _Oh my God…_ she thought as he began moving closer to her. She began to panic, not knowing what she would do-she didn't want to offend him by launching up, but she didn't want to rush into this so quickly either, yet she found herself considering it. _Should I give him the pleasure of my body? Is this who I'm marrying?_ she thought nervously. She then felt her shirt being slowly lifted up-immediately sealing the deal with her.

She leapt up and pulled her shirt back down, "N- no, I can't do that…"

Jason immediately got an offended look on his face, "Why the Hell not? We've been seeing each other for days now."

Chiya had a very distracted look on her face, staring aimlessly at the bed-now thankful that she didn't give let him continue. Chiya had a disappointed look on her face, but in the end could only keep thinking about Earl and his many warnings. Earl was all she could think about, having sex with Jason would only enrage him-proving that he was right all along.

"I can't, Earl would never forgive me…"

Jason beat his fist against the bed, "Who the Hell cares! He's a manipulative bastard!"

Chiya shook her head negatively at him, "No, he's a friend," she then exhaled and looked back at Jason, "I'm sorry Jason, but the truth is-he basically _is_ my boyfriend, he always has been."

Jason got an angry look on his face, "Fine, whatever, he can join us, you got a phone?"

Chiya gasped with widened eyes, "J- join us? What do you mean?"

"A three-way."

Chiya immediately let out a panicked shout and took a few steps back, "What!?"

"Sure, I never got to sleep with an F-Zero racer before, I sure don't wanna' miss the opportunity now that I have you here."

Chiya shook her head in disbelief, "Th- that's disgusting!"

He shrugged at her, "Hey, I'm only twenty-four, I don't want a committed relationship with anyone yet."

Chiya shook her head in disbelief, "Bu- I thought we were in love!"

Jason chuckled at her, "Oh come on, face it, you're a dumb blonde with a boring background, your F-Zero career and body is the best things you have going for you right now."

Chiya's eyes began to water at the remark, incredibly hurt by this, "So this was never abo- but, we have so much in common, how could this possibly have been about the sex?"

Jason swished his hand at her, "Ye-eah not really, I don't even know what Mysteria is to be honest, like is that a city or a job?"

Chiya stomped her foot down angrily, "A planet! You were pretending to know abo-"

"Offer is still on the table, you can call your friend here and we can all have fun, but either way-I wouldn't let this opportunity by."

Chiya held her face, her eyes filled with water at this, "I would only have passionate relations, not dirty sensual relations!"

Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, "Let me just touch you for a bit, that'll get you warmed u-"

Chiya then slapped him across the face roughly, sending him right against the bed, "You are a sick bastard! -and I am not a dumb blonde!"

Jason sat back up and retaliated by slapping her across the face as well, Chiya was completely knocked down by the slap-her left cheek completely red. She glared at him in amazement, Jason had a distressed look on his face and immediately stood up.

"Chiya I'm sorry! I didn't mea-"

She growled and roughly kicked him in the crotch, completely sending him down to the floor, "Go to Hell, Wanker!"

He then lay on the floor in pain, she had kicked him much more roughly than she did to Earl during practice. Chiya wiped her eyes, not planning to shed her first tear in years over Jason Knox. She turned around towards the door and began walking away, but she turned back towards him one last time.

"By the way, your bathtub is stupid and dirty as Hell!"

Chiya not much later came walking down the steps of the apartment complex with a miserable look on her face. Her mouth was quivering constantly in pain, just as Earl had predicted-she was crushed. Chiya was biting her finger constantly as her eyes were still watered up, she was once again single _and_ had her only friend mad at her, she felt that Seppuku and Bart were the only ones she could go to now. She held her forehead emotionally, the memories she had with the more kindhearted Jason Knox filling her head. She realized that it was for the best that this happened, she would only be hurting more if the relationship lasted any longer-maybe even allow him to have sex, but she had decided her fate and it was not an easy thing to cope with.

She was now pouting with a quivering lip as she exited the apartment building, she took a few steps outside and immediately began to exhale unclearly, as if she were crying. _I have to walk several miles…_ she thought looking down the street. She was still in the Upper City, but in a much farther part-she would need to walk several miles back to the Lower City. She held her face with both hands, beginning to shake her head in disbelief at this, she was already in pain-walking a few miles would only make things worse. She was then startled at the sound of a horn honking, she dropped her hands from her face and was surprised to see Earl sitting patiently in his car for her.

She gasped and stood motionlessly looking at Earl, he had been waiting for her the entire time in front of the building. Chiya immediately ran to the vehicle, getting in the passenger seat next to him. She didn't say a word, she only sat still with a clear look of misery, Earl simply nodded at her, then turned on the vehicle.

"Let's go home," he proposed calmly.

Chiya's mouth was still quivering, nodding at his proposal. They then began driving away from the apartments, Chiya took one last look back at the building-she never wanted to see Jason again. Earl was constantly glancing over at her nervously, he could tell that she was in pain-but was anxious to hear what had happened, but he was doing what Bart said, he would only speak if spoken to by her. Chiya rested her head on her hand, sighing as she shook her head negatively.

"I _am_ a dumb blonde…"

Earl immediately assumed that something didn't go right at all for her, but still refrained from attacking Jason incase he was wrong, "No you're not."

Chiya shook her head defiantly, "I should have done background checks with you before, because you were right-as always…" she said rolling his eyes.

Earl smirked on the left side of his cheek so she wouldn't see, "Huh, so when's your next date?"

Chiya held her face at the question and shook negatively, "Never."

Earl nodded and exhaled, deciding to break Bart's recommendation and _calmly_ begin interrogating her, "Was I right about everything?"

She quickly nodded, "Yes, every little assumption…"

Earl exhaled sadly, "Mind me asking then…" Chiya slowly looked at him sadly, "Did you give him the _pleasure_?"

She shook her head negatively, "No, but he was desperate for it, he even offered to invite you into our session…"

Earl widened his eyes, then exhaled in relief, "Thank God, it sounds like to me that you won in the end then."

"I don't feel like I've won, he's left me emotionally crushed, just like you guessed…" Earl smirked and nodded at her, "I never even got to kiss him…"

"Good! Why would you want your first make out session to be with that guy?"

Chiya nodded in agreement, "I wouldn't, he's a wanker..."

Earl began to chuckle, "That's actually for once, likely the right term…" he then nodded his head at Chiya, "I have to thank that guy though, because now I'm putting an end to my cruel hobby of picking up women-I don't want to look anything like that guy in your eyes."

Chiya slowly cracked a smile at him, "So now you're looking for a cute girl to marry…"

Earl widened his eyes, then rubbed the back of his head, "Wh- why do you think that?"

"That's what you told Seppuku that one nig-"

Earl slammed his fist on the steering wheel with a playful look, "You sly bastard! You _were_ listening to me behind the door!" Chiya somewhat chuckled at this, then looked away, Earl continued to grin as he drove, "Fair game I guess, I'm always eavesdropping on you guys…"

Chiya exhaled somewhat happily, "I think I'm done with romance, for now, I need to get my head back on F-Zero."

Earl whistled in relief, "Thank God, I sure wouldn't mind dropping this romantic crap for a bit either…"

Chiya grinned and looked at Earl, "I mean, I'm only just turning twenty-four, I've got all the time in the world to start a family," she then dipped her head sadly, "But you're right, I need someone like you who can accept a dumb blonde as a partner…"

Earl chuckled at her, "Quit calling yourself a dumb blonde, you're not a dumb blonde."

Chiya smiled at him again, she was almost happy to be done with Jason because she had forgotten how cool of a person Earl was-he actually cared and liked her for who she truly was.

"You and me are smart people, we save ourselves for the ones we know will be our soul mate, someone like Jason probably lost that special part of him to some innocent girl like you-but you resisted," Chiya gasped at him, "If you were a dumb blonde, you would have thrown yourself right at him before even kissing him."

"Wait, you've never had-"

Earl swished his hand at her quickly, "I'm knowledgeable on the subject, but no, I've never done that with anyone."

Chiya slowly sat her head back against the seat and nodded, "I always pictured that you did that with many of your girlfriends."

Earl chuckled at her, "God no, only with my soul mate."

Chiya shut her eyes, finally concluding the chapter of her life, the next thing she would have to think about is F-Zero and Black Shadow. She glanced back at Earl who appeared very happy at the end result for Chiya, she nodded at him and looked out the window.

-and maybe that person will be me, some day…

To be continued…


	22. Lap 21

==Lap 21=

"Engine," Earl yelled with a smirk.

"Check!" Chiya responded with a thumbs up.

"Combat module."

"Optimal and maintained, check."

"Energy level."

Chiya looked at the energy bar, it was completely full and ready, "Full bar."

"Headset?"

Chiya lifted the headset up, "Check."

"Morale, motivation, emotions?"

Chiya gave him a gleeful smile, "Perfect!"

Earl nodded with a smirk, "Alright, looks like we hit the nail on the head, you're ready to race."

Chiya leapt out of the _Purring Kitten_ with an excited look on her face, she began to clap her hands as she landed on the ground, "I can't believe this is finally happening! My mom and sister has probably seen me on the news by now, last they heard from me I was just trying to land a place in university and get a part-time job," Earl smiled back at her, she swished her hair in the air with widened eyes of excitement, "That was five years ago, they must have been shocked to hear that I'm an F-Zero racer that could win one billion credits!"

"-and you get to represent Mysteria, right?"

Chiya put her finger on her lip, not considering this very much, "I never thought about that…"

"Sure, Captain Falcon represents Port Town, you could be the first racer to represent the planet of Mysteria," Earl then grunted and looked back at her, "Actually, that might not be such a good idea, Mysteria's a really despised planet…"

"Why?"

"I already explained this to you before, Mysteria lies and censors the media, that way they can brainwash you with their abridged version-for example, you claimed that the Mysteria soccer team always beat everyone in the Universe Cup, but the actual truth of it is-your team has never made it to the Universe Cup in eight years…"

For once Chiya wasn't taking as much offense to this, she found herself nodding at him, "Why would they do that to us?"

Earl shrugged, "Probably for patriotism, if you all believe that Mysteria is the greatest planet ever, you're more likely to support the government-I'm sure the men there join the military voluntarily."

"Men volunteer, women have to sign up for selective service."

Earl widened his eyes at her, "Wh- what?"

She nodded at him, "Yeah, age 16, I had to sign up before I escaped to Earth."

Earl shook his head in disbelief, then looked back at the _Purring Kitten_, "Remind me about that later, I'm really interested in _that_ bit…"

Seppuku came out of his office stretching, he too was prepared for the Grand Prix, only he was fearful of how Chiya would perform. He liked to use the term _babysitting_ when planning on how he would assist Chiya, while she was offended by this term-she found it acceptable, as she was technically one of the freshest racers in F-Zero and would naturally start off as a novice racer. Seppuku walked down the hallway looking at the bathroom door, the group would be leaving for Fire Field not much later, now that they had a ship they could decide whether to leave for planets early or late. Seppuku opened the bathroom door and walked in, he then closed and locked it behind him; he approached the sink and put his hand on his face-removing his visor. Seppuku began to rinse it under warm water, then began wiping it off with his coat, he wasn't used to taking his visor off, and was constantly grunting at the bright lights surrounding him-his visor was tinted like most others. He then caught something in the corner of his eye-something pink, he raised his visor back up to his face and looked down. He immediately clenched his fists and growled.

"-and I think if we move some of the targets around, we could easily turn it into a small soccer field," Earl explained.

Chiya shook her head, "Yeah, I just hope I still fit in my soccer uniform, I want your review o-"

"Chi-iya-a!" Seppuku's voice echoed angrily through the entire base.

Chiya and Earl both gasped in horror-Seppuku was mad. Chiya began to panic and looked around the garage for somewhere to hide.

"Oh God, what did I do wrong!?"

Earl grabbed her shoulders and began pushing her towards the _Purring Kitten_, "No time! Just get out of here!"

The two were franticly climbing around the _Purring Kitten_, Earl was pushing her rear desperately trying to get her in the cockpit, Chiya began to shake her head constantly, "He sounds mad! I gotta' get ou-"

Seppuku then kicked open the door angrily, "Flower!"

Chiya and Earl immediately looked at him in fear, Chiya hesitantly getting out of her vehicle. She hid behind Earl immediately, trembling as he held his arm, "Y- yes sir?"

Seppuku was grinding his teeth angrily at her, "You know, the first few times I've been nice enough to deal with this myself, but as you can imagine, the sixth time in a row I'm getting fairly pissed at seeing-this!" he then held out a pair of pink panties with a black silhouetted cat head on the front.

Chiya immediately gasped and stepped in front of Earl, "What the Hell! Why are you touching my underwear!?"

He tapped his finger on his chin as he waved the panties around, "Because, you keep leaving your damn clothes on the ground after you shower, and I'm getting pretty sick of it!"

Chiya ran up to him and started leaping for her undergarments, "Come on! That's really pervy' Seppuku! Give it back!" Seppuku was holding the panties up in the air out of reach as she constantly tried jumping for it, Seppuku continued to wave it in the air as he looked down at her angrily, "I'm being serious, give it back that's something only I should be holding!" she said leaping desperately with a red face of embarrassment.

Earl couldn't help but silently laugh at the sight of this, not in a sexual way-rather he found it funny how Chiya was desperately jumping for her pair of pink panties. Chiya was making unclear grunting noises as she tried reaching for it, but she was too short compared to Seppuku. Unlike Earl, Seppuku wasn't laughing-but he was likely finding this humorous inside of his mind, the fact that he was waving it around slightly showed that he was playing with her somewhat.

"Give, it, back!" she demanded while tugging on his arm-trying to lower it.

"No more socks, no more underwear, and no more bras, I'm sick of seeing these things on the bathroom floor," he began to lower his hand down finally, "I'm not your damn maid, pick up your own clothes, am I clear enough?"

Chiya nodded franticly, "Yes, yes, now let go of it!"

Seppuku dropped the undergarments into her hands, she immediately crumpled it up and stuck it in her pocket with a blazing red face. Earl shook his head and rubbed his forehead, trying to kill his laughter.

"This is a madhouse…" he muttered jokingly.

Seppuku smirked at him, "Are we ready to go?"

Chiya shook her head affirmatively, "All set!"

"Alright then, here's the plan; we're going to sleep in the ship rather than renting out a place on Fire Field, the ship should suffice since it has a cooling unit."

Chiya narrowed her eyes, "How hot is it going to be here..?"

Earl chuckled, "Hotter than Sand Ocean…"

Chiya face palmed, she'd been warned about this previously but was only just grasping how irritating her first race experience would be. The track she would be driving on was a cylinder with somewhat of a gravitational pull all around it, the track wouldn't have many guardrails so she would have to be very careful.

"Pack your things then, we're leaving in five…" said Seppuku as he walked back out of the garage.

Earl and Chiya both followed him out of the garage, neither of them would need much, Chiya was taking precaution and was going to keep her gun fully loaded and equipped.

A few moments later, Chiya stood in her room looking around franticly for things she would need-but she couldn't think of anything. _I know there's something I need…_ she thought in frustration. She found that her gun and art book was all she wanted to bring, but was fearing that she would suddenly want something from her room once on Fire Field. She looked over at her mirror and found that the nail paint was still sitting exactly as it was several days ago, she lowered her eyebrows angrily and disregarded this, not wanting to think back to that awkward night. She shrugged helplessly and left her room with the art book and gun, hoping this was all she would need.

Chiya was somewhat surprised as soon as she exited her room; unlike her, Earl was carrying a massive amount of things. He was standing next to his door waiting for Chiya and Seppuku, his bags appeared full of things-hardly able to fit everything. Chiya raised an eyebrow at the sight of a medical bag.

"What in the world are you bringing?"

Earl looked down at his bags and shrugged, "Medicine, tools, clothes, paint, Korean flag, weapon and ammunition-"

"Is that all necessary?"

"Well yeah, what if we get stuck on this planet and can never escape? This way I'm all set."

Chiya nodded at him respectfully, while this seemed like an overreaction for the most part, it was a good precaution-especially with Black Shadow trying to get them. Ever since her encounter with Samurai Goroh on Aeropolis, she had little intentions of actually roaming the planet alone; she no longer had the tracking device she usually used to get out trouble, as Earl had thrown it in Black Shadow's ship so they could track it; if she was captured by anyone but Black Shadow-she'd be doomed.

Seppuku kicked open his door and began walking down the hallway towards the two. Chiya had a look of excitement, despite the horrid planet she would be going to-her dream of being an F-Zero racer had finally arrived; all because of the fateful night one year ago exactly where Seppuku saved Chiya from being violated. Seppuku came very close to winning the annual Grand Prix, Jody Summer ultimately stole the win however-but he was hopeful that he could win now that he had a permanent partner.

"Time to go."

Chiya nodded and began walking towards the garage leading the two.

Much later, Chiya drove the _Purring Kitten_ up the loading ramp of their ship, Earl was driving the _Red Dove_ up while Seppuku was getting the ship started up in the bridge. Chiya's hand began to tremble nervously as she turned off her machine, she was very excited for the Grand Prix, but at the same time was wondering how dangerous it would be. And whether she would embarrass herself. She brushed her bangs aside and opened the cockpit, leaping out into the ship; Earl did the same momentarily-only he left the cockpit wide open as he exited. Without a word, Chiya began moving towards the living room of the ship, Earl clicked a button on a panel, this retracted the loading ramp and began closing the door. Chiya hadn't hesitated to make herself comfortable on the couch, immediately collapsing onto the expensive piece of furniture. There was a fairly large TV in front of it-but no remote. Earl yawned and leapt over the couch, sitting himself next to her quickly.

"So, are we gonna' get to decorate out rooms Captain?"

Chiya grunted in confusion at the question, then realized-this is legally _her_ ship, making her the Captain, "Aye!"

Seppuku then walked into the living room slowly, "I'll be the judge of that…" Chiya immediately frowned at him, "Chiya can have five pieces of clothing on the ground; maximum, in her room."

Earl got a scowling look on his face, Seppuku pointed at Chiya with a straight finger, "Along with this rule, you will not play music, TV must be at a volume of five, no girly posters, no cats, no eating, no-"

"It's Chiya's ship, she can do whatever the Hell she wants," Earl said with a scornful look.

Chiya smirked and nodded, "Thank you, Earl."

"I don't care about her little legal protection, this ship was won with the Purring Kitten, which was built by Earl, who is in my organization-and I expect all the same rules to be followed here as they are in the base," he stared at Chiya specifically, "You already broke the rule of adding a fleabag to our team…"

Chiya got a dreamy look on her face and smiled, "I wonder if Mauser's excited for me…"

Earl and Seppuku stared at her motionlessly and confused, Seppuku momentarily shook his head in discontent, "Shut up Chiya…" he then proceeded towards the bridge.

Earl blew his tongue behind Seppuku's back, Chiya didn't seem bothered by him however-having become accustomed to his jerk-like behavior. Earl looked back at her and began to chuckle, she had a slight grin on her face as well. She then stood up momentarily and stretched, reaching into her pocket.

"He said five clothing, so go throw this on the ground," she said throwing the pink panties into his hands.

Earl immediately widened his eyes and cringed, "Wha- uh-h…" he grunted as he held the panties with only his fingertips.

Chiya went into the kitchen and began digging around the refrigerator, she had stuffed it with food while in Korea. She jolted her head up startled as she could feel a change in gravity for a moment-the ship had just lifted off the ground, officially leaving Red Canyon. Chiya exhaled and nodded her head, _Let's win this Grand Prix, make a legend out of the Flower name!_ she thought full of determination.

Earl exhaled as he exited Chiya's room, he then began moving towards the couch again with an exhausted look. He had been working extra hard to keep the _Purring Kitten_ and _Red Dove _in optimal shape for the first race-he would have to work even harder after Chiya and Seppuku begin to dent their machines in the races. Chiya began walking towards him as he rubbed his forehead, collapsing onto the couch with a loud yawn. Chiya threw her hand in front of him suddenly, revealing a fruit in her hand. Earl raised his eyebrows at the fruit, poking it with his finger.

"A persimmon fruit," he answered.

Chiya nodded, "I thought it was a tomato-I got it from Korea."

Earl grinned at the fruit and took it out of her hands, feeling the texture of the ripe fruit delicately, "Haven't had a Korean persimmon since that time me and my battalion got stuck in the Baekdu mountains in the middle of winter."

Chiya blinked at him a few times with a smile, he raised an eyebrow at her and grinned, "We were taking a surprise route into Manchuria through the Baekdu mountains, but then a storm hit and made maneuvering very difficult on the account of low visibility," he brushed his hair up and looked at her, "And if that weren't bad enough, the Manchurian's had an anti-tank commando unit along the ridges, God knows how they knew of our whereabouts…"

Chiya widened her eyes, "Did that have rockets?"

Earl gave her a thumbs up, "Oh yes, if it weren't for that heavy snowfall, we'd all be cooked."

"Did any of your men die?"

"Nope, nothing could penetrate our thousand millimeter thick armor!" he said with a wild eyed look of excitement.

"Well, a believe a basic rocket propelled grenade could penetrate a thousand millimeters if hit close enough," Earl grunted and looked at her in shock, "In war, it's more of a matter of where you hit the tank, if they for example; hit your side armor from about sixty meters, you'd all probably die from the shock if not the damage."

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "Keep talking."

She nodded, "And what if you fell in a ditch and had the top of your tank exposed? I'm sure the roofing of the tank isn't as reinforced as the rear or front, all they would need to do is hit you from the top and you'd be dead," Earl was shaking his head slightly in disbelief as he listened, "Our Mysterian tanks were only about eight-hundred millimeters thick, and I know that those could easily be knocked out as long as a heavy explosive shell made the littlest penetration inside of the tank."

Earl smiled at her, "You of all people…" he chuckled and looked back at her, "Well, I clearly don't have to dumb it down for you, let me explain exactly what kind of situations we got in while in the Baekdu region…"

The two continued to talk about war and the mechanics of armored warfare for several minutes, Earl now realizing that Chiya had a bit more knowledge on the subject than just movies. Fire Field was a distant planet-like area, it wasn't recognized as a planet however-rather it was more of a star. Fire Field was at one point somewhat like a large rocky planet, but after being populated with mining companies, erupted-revealing massive collections of lava, now the area is one large ocean of lava. Fire Field is now deemed practically useless, however it was still an area that could host F-Zero races now that the lava stopped rising. The F-Zero committee practically owned the entire wasteland of lava, therefore made it a very recurring track in Grand Prix's. Fire Field _could_ be called an artificial planet however; as it had a planet sized artificial oxygen system surrounding it that was funded by the committee.

About two hours later; Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku remained in the living room. Seppuku found a good time to take a break from piloting, as they only had to fly in a single direction, and they weren't in any known areas with asteroids. The rest of the trip would be a straight dive towards the burning land of Fire Field.

"Long live the Mysterian Empire and her majesty!" Chiya shouted with her hand clenched up in the air, and legs put together. Earl and Seppuku both nodded at her slowly, she then dropped her hand and smiled, "It's offensive on my planet not to do this when confronted with a member of the military."

Earl was a bit shocked to see Chiya know all of this, he never stopped to think about it-but Chiya could possibly be a supporter of Imperialism and Autocracy, as that was how she was forced to think on her planet. Chiya then stepped away from the couch and began marching, her legs high up in the air every step she took.

"This is how the females are told to march when we do our annual military parades," she then pointed down at her boot, "Every teenager and young adult that are females, wear these boots when they march."

Seppuku smirked at her, "Sounds stupid.

Earl shook his head at her, "Wait, wait, wait-you mean right now, there are thousands of girls wearing those exact same boots on Mysteria?"

She nodded, "These are standard issued military dress boots."

Earl grinned at her, "I did always wonder why a girl would wear those," he then raised an eyebrow at her, "But why still wear them? You're free now."

She grinned at him, "We couldn't afford anything better," Earl and Seppuku glanced at each other, then looked back at her, "My teachers always praised me for honoring the might of the Mysterian army though by wearing these."

"So your teacher supported the government then?"

"All of them, they were all military officers."

Earl's eyebrow was twitching at this, he was hearing all of this-but still didn't know what crime she committed on Mysteria. Seppuku began to chuckle at Chiya, crossing his arms at her.

"Please, if the Mysterian military is so mighty, why didn't they stop that bombing from happening?" Chiya gritted her teeth and swallowed, "I was there that day, I sure didn't see any resistance…"

Chiya shook her head, "That ship was really advanced though, not even the Federation could stop that, my dad was smart and brought us back to the hills though so we wouldn't get hurt."

Earl slowly narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, "Wa- wait, but you said he got shelled right on the streets of the city."

Chiya was gazing intensely at him, "Oh, um, he did."

"Then how did he bring you to the hills?"

Chiya licked her lips and looked at Seppuku quickly, then looked at Earl, "Uh, my mistake, that was my mom who brought us."

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "So you just left your dad's body on the gr-"

"Are we almost to Fire Field?" Chiya asked franticly.

Seppuku shrugged at her, "About an hour."

She nodded at him then rubbed the back of her head, "What ever did happen to Michael Chain?"

Earl dropped his suspicions and looked up at Seppuku, he shrugged again at Chiya, "No one knows, he's probably still lurking around Mute City-looking for a way to Mysteria."

"Or looking for the Wild Boar?" Earl proposed.

Seppuku smirked, "Well he won't be in this Grand Prix, that's for sure."

Earl looked back at Chiya with a curious look, "Wait, if Mysteria is a planet that censors everything outside of the planet, how do you even know about F-Zero?"

Chiya smiled at him and nodded, "Well of course we know about F-Zero, Mysteria did invent it after all…" Earl and Seppuku stared at her as if she were stupid, immediately beginning to laugh at her remark. Chiya looked back and forth at the two in confusion-then offense. "What?" she asked in a hostile tone.

Earl shook his head negatively while chuckling, "Japan-Japan is where it came from, not Mysteria…" she widened her eyes at him, "That's just more lies from your government."

Chiya looked at Seppuku for backup, but found that he was nodding in agreement with Earl. She sadly dipped her head down in disappointment, beginning to realize that they were right-her planet was full of lies and propaganda. She finally looked up at the two with a doleful look of sadness.

"Please, just tell me-what _are_ we known for?"

Earl moved his head back and breathed in nervously, "Uh, I mean, Mysteria has lots of interesting stuff, just like, n-"

"Mysteria is a pile of crap, it's an annoying wasteland of fog and little grassland-and the government there only makes it even worse by instructing fear into the people," said Seppuku.

Earl cringed at his response, feeling that this might hurt Chiya's feelings. He was right, she did appear disappointed-she never intended on going back to Mysteria in the first place, but she still liked her own home.

"I see…"

Earl bit his lip somewhat angrily at Seppuku, but had to ultimately agree with him secretly. He grabbed Chiya's shoulder passionately and chuckled, "Don't worry, Mysteria does have something special-it builds character, something you'll find helpful as you gain fame in the Grand Prix."

Chiya looked back up at him and slightly smiled.

"_If_ she gains any fame," Seppuku corrected.

Earl shot back a look of fury at him, Seppuku wasn't affected by this however, but decided to retreat back to the bridge, "This is getting boring, I'm going to hurry this trip up…"

Chiya somewhat shook her head in disbelief as Earl continued staring at her. _I've been lied to all those years? Is Princess Princia even a bad person then?_ she shook her head negatively and stood up. Earl grunted fearfully for her.

"Okay Chiya, just calm down a bit-Mysteria's not _that_ bad of a place, but right now you need to be excited for the Grand Prix."

She shook her head at him, "Believe me, I'm excited," she turned her head away from him, "Though I'm not sure I'm quite convinced about Mysteria yet, I only believe that they may have lied a few times to us."

Earl shook his head negatively at her, but decided it wasn't the time to offend her-she needed to be in top shape for the first race. "Fair enough…"

About an hour later, the ship began moving down towards Fire Field, the artificial planet had a bright orange glow and had barely any buildings-only one small area of metallic buildings. Chiya and Earl stood in the bridge with Seppuku as they lowered themselves towards a large starport-Chiya was somewhat fearful of all the lava, knowing that a simple touch would burn her flesh straight off.

"I'm really hoping we don't get knocked off the track…" she said with widened eyes.

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Then race as good as you did during the Auction race."

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "Yes sir."

Seppuku slowly stopped the ship, now hovering above the starport-as they began to slowly drop down, Seppuku looked at Chiya and Earl, "Be careful while you two wander, we have to kill a day here, so don't get yourself captured by Black Shadow," he ended the sentence by staring at Chiya specifically.

She lowered her eyebrows at him angrily, "Oh sure, I haven't been captured _that_ much before…"

Seppuku smirked at her, "Twice by Red Star, once by the Bloody Chain, twice by Samurai Goroh, and one more time by Black Shadow."

Chiya slowly raised her hand up at his face; Earl widened his eyes and chuckled at what she did next, "O-oh!"

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Just so you know, you can't do that to fans that may boo you, I got in trouble for that once…"

Earl chuckled, "Oh yeah, didn't the F-Zero committee make a new law about doing that because of you?"

Seppuku smirked at him, then stood up as soon as they landed, "Alright, let's explore a little before we part ways for the day…" he then stood up and began walking down the small hallway of the ship, then turned towards the two with a grin, "Oh, by the way-Happy Birthday…"

"Thanks."

"Thanks!"

Earl and Chiya both widened their eyes and looked at each other, Seppuku began to chuckle at their surprise, "Just found that out yesterday while looking through both of your medical records…"

Chiya and Earl were looking at each other in surprise, Chiya raised a finger, "I'm twenty-four now."

Earl smirked at her, "And that makes me twenty-nine now."

Chiya giggled at him as she followed Seppuku, "Well happy birthday old man…"

"I'm only five years old than you…"

"Just kidding Earl…"

Earl gulped nervously, "Oh God, I hope you don't have some spectacular birthday gift for me, otherwise it's Christmas all over again…"

She let out a laugh, "Not this time-next year for sure."

"Well I'll have both a Christmas present and birthday gift for you nex-"

Seppuku stomped on the ground, "Okay, shut up already…"

He then opened the door and took a step outside, the first moment the door opened-a wave of heat could be felt blowing into the ship. Seppuku took a few steps outside of the ship and breathed in, then exhaled happily. Earl wiped his forehead as soon as he came up to Seppuku.

"Man, and I thought Sand Ocean was bad…"

Seppuku grinned at him, "Just don't complain about the heat like Chi-"

They both widened their eyes suddenly, then slowly turned around towards Chiya fearfully. She was already groaning at the heat-just like on Sand Ocean.

"Oh my Go-od! This is much hotter than Sand Ocean!" she complained.

Earl and Seppuku both let out loud groans at her-they would have to once again deal with a hot and frustrated Chiya, just like on Sand Ocean.

To be continued…


	23. Lap 22

==Lap 22=

Chiya stood motionlessly in a world of darkness, she looked around franticly for a hint of color-but the world was painted black. She swished her head around constantly for a way out, but could see nothing at all; she took a few steps away from that position, but couldn't tell if she was truly moving or not; as there were no shadows, objects, or lights. Chiya finally gasped and held her forehead.

"What the Hell is this?"

Suddenly the sound of laughter could be heard surrounding her, she got a haunted look on her face and began spinning around. Chiya shook her head in disbelief, then stomped her foot down in frustration.

"Am I dead?"

Momentarily, a man in a long black coat came walking towards her-it was Lieutenant Seppuku. Chiya got an ecstatic look at him, knowing that her friend was here to help. He had a smirk on his face as he walked towards her with his arms behind his back. He began to chuckle again as he looked up at Chiya, installing more fear into her.

"You're an idiot," said Seppuku.

Chiya grunted and shook her head, "What?"

He stopped in front of her and continued to grin, "We have bigger problems to deal with-yet all you can think about is racing."

She lowered her eyebrows challengingly, "But you're racing too! Why should I have to stop?"

"I never said to quit, I'm just saying-you're boneheaded."

Chiya growled then looked around again, "Where are we?"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow, "Oh, this is just a dream."

Chiya exhaled and looked up at him, "Oh thank God, it's just a lucid dr-"

"Wakey' wakey' Chiya!" Earl shouted vibrantly while shaking her in bed.

Chiya began to panic as she was so abruptly awakened by Earl, he was holding both of her shoulders and was shaking her up and down. "Wha- what the Hell are you doing!?" she asked with a vibrating voice.

He let go of her and began to chuckle, she immediately sat up and rubbed her eyes. Earl took two steps back from her bed, "That was fun, I should do that more often."

"Please don't…" Earl nodded and bowed respectively to her, she opened her eyes and looked around the room, "That was the best sleep I ever had, this ship rocks!"

Earl sighed, "Wish I could say the same, but I had to sleep with Seppuku…" Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "I mean, near him."

"-and?"

"He kept staring at me, I had to hide under my blankets just to stay calm."

Chiya exhaled and rubbed her forehead, "I mean, I guess you could sleep in here-just don't make things awkward by doing guy stuff."

Earl smirked at her, "I'll just cope with Seppuku for now, thanks-but anyways…" he then forcibly grabbed her hand and launched her out of bed, "The Grand Prix kicks off today!" he said with an adventurous look.

Chiya widened her eyes and nodded, "That means its been exactly one year since I met you," she held her chin and grinned, "Tomorrow will mark one year since I joined you and Seppuku…"

"Yep, we made a lot of progress in just a year-bet you never pictured yourself racing this early."

She began walking towards the door and flailed her hands, "Yeah, I was maybe thinking in like seven years, if I could even get my hands on the body of an F-Zero machine."

She exited her room and entered the living room, she was now fully rested and prepared for her first F-Zero Grand Prix race-only she was hungry. She decided not the sit on the couch, moving towards the kitchen instead, she had a craving for fruit-luckily the refrigerator was full of Korean fruits._ Something I'll remember about Earl's homeland, is the variety of fruit for sale…_ She reached out for a pear and spun it around, examining it for any brown spots, she momentarily took a bit out of it and turned back around-Earl was standing right behind her with a grin. Chiya got a startled look, then raised an eyebrow at him as she chewed.

"Can I help you?"

Earl crossed his arms together, "I figured we'd go out and explore the town a bit before the race."

Chiya fake chuckled and shook her head negatively, "No way, I'm wax when it comes to the heat."

Earl got a mild look, "Oh come on, we should get familiarized with the areas of this planet, like the bar."

"Why? We're probably not coming back here, and we're certainly not staying here another night."

Earl groaned and dipped his head, "Okay, I'll be honest with you…" he rubbed the back of his head and grinded his teeth, "I could use a beer, but I need someone to keep me from flirting with any girls-as I've given that up."

Chiya began to chuckle at him, "Don't drink before the race-what kind of manager does that?"

"This guy, don't worry-I just need a glass."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "I'm anti-alcohol, I wouldn't condone doing this with you even if it _were_ nice out."

Earl growled aloud in frustration, "I brought an umbrella, what if I let you use that?"

"That won't make a difference, it's hardly the sunlight that makes this planet hot."

Earl remained gazing at her, "I like beer, can you please just accept me for who I am?"

Chiya shook her head slightly with a look of discontent, "Firstly, you can't complain about my groaning-as you know I'm very prone to the heat," Earl shook his head quickly with an excited look, "Also, I get to try and convince you to stop drinking."

Earl shut his eyes angrily, "What? Why?" she smirked at him, awaiting an answer, "Alcohol isn't bad for you Chiya, it only is if you can't control it-there's no need to stop drinking."

"I don't care, I hate beer-meaning you should too."

Earl got an offended look on his face, but momentarily nodded, "Whatever, you can try, but I'm parched."

She sighed and nodded at him, "Fine, let's go then."

Earl grinned and began walking towards the door, "Wait, hold on," he turned back around towards her, she was now pointing at the room he and Seppuku slept in, "Get me the umbrella."

Chiya and Earl moments later went walking together down the single street of Fire Field. The street was very long, but only stretched out about five miles, a small building occupying every space that was available off to the side. The first thing Chiya had noticed, was that there didn't appear to be any personal owned homes-only businesses, with the exception of some apartments. Chiya held a black umbrella over her head as they walked, trying to stay as cool as possible-though this was only keeping her from the rays of the sun. She groaned as the heat blew all over her body, Earl was having an easy time accepting her first condition-not to complain about her discomfort. Chiya's explanation to him was that Mysteria was a planet that never got hot, therefore she never adapted to the feeling of warmth. Chiya glanced far up ahead of them and could see a large stadium looking structure with a roof, it appeared to go right down under the lava.

"Is that the track?"

Earl looked up ahead and nodded, "Yes, takes us down into a massive abandoned mining complex, it's practically an underground race." _Surely it's not as hot down there… _he gave her a puzzled look and waved his hand near her chest, "So no racer outfit?"

"No, I don't want one."

"It'd probably boost your fan base a bit, maybe promote more toys to be made of you."

Chiya swished her head excitedly at him, "Chiya toys?"

He chuckled in response, "Yes, don't tell me you still play with toys…"

She narrowed her eyes and looked away, "N- no, not usually-but I'd like to collect some of the stuff they make of me."

"Fair enough, I might do the same."

She rubbed her forehead and lowered her umbrella slightly, "Besides, I'm sure they would expect me to get in some kind of tight suit-and I'm not as willing to expose myself like other women."

Earl grinned, "I can support that, you can be one of the more role model female racers, one that children may like."

She chuckled at him as they turned towards a building-the bar, "Oh whatever, kids like racers like Captain Falcon, I bet my fan base will be more sealed with the elderly."

Earl opened the door for her, "Nothing wrong with that."

Chiya entered the bar, but was quickly shocked to see how filled it was with other people; Earl came walking in momentarily and was also surprised. He lowered his eyebrows at the sight of so much children running around the bar, Chiya was looking at the children as well.

"One glass," said Chiya as she poked his shoulder.

Earl nodded respectively and approached the counter, Chiya assumed position near him-acting like a bodyguard. She was scanning for women that could possibly interest him, she collapsed the umbrella and held it in her hand like a sword.

"Can I help you?" asked the bartender.

Earl raised his finger, but Chiya grabbed his hand, "He wants one glass, just one, no more," Earl responded by making a dazed look.

"Sorry, too many children are in the bar to serve alcohol."

Earl gasped and slammed his fist down, "That's the most idiotic thing I ever heard! This isn't some play center, it's a place for drinking and conversation!"

Chiya smirked at him, glad to see that he was out of luck. "Sorry pal, the F-Zero committee doesn't want any children around intoxicated adults-mainly to minimize the chances of a lawsuit."

Earl was growling aloud, Chiya then sat down next to him, "Just get something else to drink…"

Earl shook his head negatively, "The Hell I will…" he said sarcastically as he stood up.

Chiya followed Earl back to the door, he held it open again for her as she opened up her umbrella. Earl walked out with her, but she was already moving back the direction they had came.

"Hey, where ya' going?" asked Earl.

Chiya wiped her forehead and turned her head, "Back to the ship, now I'm all buttered up in sweat so I need a shower."

Earl ran up to her quickly with a coy look, "We're all sweaty Chiya, it doesn't pay to take a shower."

"I don't care, I don't want to be."

Earl shrugged at her, "Well you're gonna' just get sweaty as soon as you leave for the race, so you-"

She growled and whipped her head towards him, "I don't like the heat! Okay?"

Earl widened his eyes and dipped his head, "No problem, we can just hang around the ship until the race starts…"

A few hours later, Chiya and Earl remained in the ship; neither knew where Seppuku was, but the _Red Dove_ was no longer in the ship-meaning he was likely at the track. They had roughly an hour left before the racers would be called onto the track, Earl was becoming nervous as Chiya was still in the bathroom-wondering why she was taking so long. Earl was making one final check on the _Purring Kitten_, it was crucial that nothing was left unworked on, everything had to be perfect. Earl was checking the exhaust pipes of the machine, he found that it was completely smooth without a single rust. He rubbed his finger down the pipe slowly, mostly thinking about when Chiya would leave the bathroom, or whether she fell and needed his help. He then felt a drop of water land on him, he jolted his head up startled and looked up-Chiya was standing behind him with dripping hair and a white bathrobe.

"I'm ready to race!" she said with an excited smile.

Earl smirked at her, "You plan on driving naked or something?"

"No-o, I'm going to wear what I usually do."

Earl shook his head with a curious look, "What the Hell were you doing in there that took hours?"

Chiya looked away with puckered lips, "I showed for a while, then took an enthusiastic bath."

"For two hours?"

"Yes, I like to relax."

Earl nodded at her slowly, "Alright, go get clothed-we gotta' jet."

Chiya nodded and ran back to her room, holding her towel tightly as she moved. Earl continued to stare at her, then finally turned around wide-eyed with a quirking smile, "Wo-w…" he said with a slightly red face.

A few minutes later, Chiya leapt into the _Purring Kitten_ and turned on the engine, Earl opened the door and loading ramp. Chiya moved her head out of the cockpit before she closed it, her hair was still somewhat wet.

"But Earl, how will you make it to the track?"

She then gasped as he jumped onto the side of the _Purring Kitten_, holding onto the cockpit tightly, "Just don't close the window, I'll hang on tight."

Chiya had a look of doubt, "That's not a very good idea…"

"I can hold on, just don't go maximum speed."

She bit her lip nervously and slowly began to accelerate, Earl nodded at her as they began to move, "It's fine, just go."

Chiya gritted her teeth nervously as they then drove down the loading ramp, Earl held on even more tightly as they did this. They drove off of the ramp and began driving towards the center of Fire Field. Earl narrowed his eyes at her moments later, she was only driving about five miles/per hour.

"Chiya, I could run this fast…"

"I don't wanna' hurt you on accident."

Earl smirked at her, then slammed his hand down, "Come on, pick up the pace," he ordered.

Chiya sighed, then slowly began to speed up-Earl still didn't appear pleased with the current speed. She continued to move it up, but she wasn't even going the speed that a normal vehicle would go.

"Chiy-"

"I'm sorry! Can't you just sit on my lap instead?"

He got a cocky look on his face, "That's not necessary if I'm holding on without a struggle…" She looked down at his hand, he had it perfectly secure without any trembling motions, "Seriously, just drive."

She finally began to drive much faster, both Earl and Chiya's hair blowing in the wind as they drove. Earl smiled and looked up at the sky.

"Ah, that breeze feels good on a planet like this…"

Chiya nodded in agreement, but continued to look down at his hand-he wasn't having any problem holding on. She looked back up at him, he had a pleased look finally and was observing Fire Field as they drove.

"Are you sure you can't just sit on my lap instead?" she asked cautiously.

Earl chuckled at her, "What are you, Santa Claus?-No I don't wanna' sit on your lap."

She wiped her forehead and exhaled, "I'm already sweating…"

"Told you."

She quirked her mouth and looked at his hand again, "If you fall off, I'm not forgiving you."

"Eh, a box of chocolate and you'd forgive me," he countered.

"Are you calling me fat!?" she yelled shooting back a furious look.

"N- no, a box of chocolate-where did you hear the word _fat_?"

"But you were thinking about it…"

He looked at her belly, then raised his eyebrows, "A supermodel-no, but I could tell that you didn't eat much when I first met you," he then slowly looked up at her, "Are you anorexic?"

Chiya put her finger on her lip, "Ano-o- what now?"

"Anorexic means-eh, never mind…"

The two eventually reached the large stadium looking structure, the road led right into a tunnel-it was very dark. Chiya looked around the tunnel nervously as they drove, then looked down at Earl.

"We're not gonna' get mugged in here, are we?"

"Of course not."

They were now passing by several other vehicles, she had the right of way through anything since she was an official F-Zero racer. She looked up ahead and could see a toll booth looking area, unlike other tracks-this one was requesting tickets _before_ entering the actual track. Chiya looked at Earl for help, he was staring at the booth while humming.

"Just drive right through, let's see if they stop us…"

Chiya nodded and picked up the speed, making it clear to everyone that she would be going right through. She gritted her teeth nervously, prepared to get pulled over-but went through the checkpoint smoothly. Both her and Earl looked back, it appeared that they were allowed-the F-Zero machine was likely enough to prove that she was one of the contestants. She exhaled and looked back up, she was then pushed back against her seat in amazement at the complex area they were now entering. The track wasn't anything like the other ones they encountered, there was no sky visible, lava surrounding the track, a cylinder shaped track, and the private booths were crunched up together rather than far apart.

"Turn left," ordered Earl.

Chiya glanced to her left and saw where the F-Zero machines would all go-there were several garages sitting to the side of the track. She turned and went towards the garages, trying to pick out which one to enter.

"Garage number forty-seven."

Chiya looked at him in confusion, "How do you know that?"

"It's on our licenses, you'll always park in number forty-seven."

She then drove down the isle of garages, seeing F-Zero machines in every one of them-she was nearly late. Earl tugged on her shoulder, "Alright, stop here." Chiya hit the brakes and Earl leapt off the _Purring Kitten_, she blinked at him a few times as he looked at her, "I can't enter this area with you, so you're on your own from here, I'll be speaking from the private booth throughout the race."

Chiya gritted her teeth nervously, "What about Seppuku?"

"Find him, if you don't-call me quickly," Chiya smiled at him then nodded, Earl smiled back and gave her a slight salute, "Good luck Chiya, bring gold to the Flower name."

She bit her lip and slowly began to move into her garage, finally prepared for the Grand Prix. She parked the _Purring Kitten_ facing out of the garage so she could dart out when called onto the track. She hesitantly got out of her machine, she had no idea what to do before the race-but Earl told her to find Seppuku. _This is already nerve-racking enough, this heat sure the Hell isn't helping…_ she thought as she looked around. She grunted at the sight of something before she could exit the garage-Dr. Stewart, Samurai Goroh, Super Arrow, and Silver Neelson all came towards her garage. She widened her eyes and took a few steps back nervously, Goroh and Super Arrow were the only ones who seemed upset by her presence, the others seeming curious. She stepped right back into the _Purring Kitten_ and gritted her teeth fearfully as they all entered her garage. Dr. Stewart came right up to her unlike the others, who were all examining her machine.

"So you pulled it off, huh?" said Dr. Stewart.

Chiya nodded quickly, "Yes, I now have my F-Zero license."

Goroh began to chuckle as he also approached her, "You're too green to be racing already…"

Chiya shook her head defiantly, "What'ya mean? I beat you in the Auction race didn't I?"

"Only because Seppuku saved your ass!"

"_I _saved her ass?"

Everyone turned around, revealing Seppuku as he slowly walked towards the cluster of pilots with a grin, Goroh grinded his teeth at Seppuku somewhat angrily, "You stole the prize money by cheating that race! You weren't a part of that race Seppuku!"

Seppuku disregarded his remark and pushed him aside, walking up to Chiya. She looked up at him with a slight smile, Seppuku then surprisingly returned somewhat of a smile as well-likely proud of her somewhat. More racers began to enter her garage momentarily, soon Antonio Guster and Roger Buster walked in.

"Where's Bendek?"

Chiya gave him a thumbs up, "Up in the private booth, ready to direct me."

Seppuku smirked and shook his head, "Of course he went straight up there, it _is_ a conditioned booth…"

Chiya gasped and dipped her head in awe, "Wha- well that's not fair!"

"Well, most F-Zero machines have a conditioner, just keep that on during the ra-"

"Oh Hell no, what the Hell is _this_?" asked a voice from behind the crowd of racers.

Chiya and Seppuku turned around, the racer known as Baba came walking up with a look of discontent, "This is that one machine, aint' it?"

Chiya stepped forward with a somewhat hostile look, "Yes, the Purring Kitten-my machine." Baba tapped his foot constantly with an unamused look, he looked her in the eyes-she momentarily smiled gleefully and waved at him, "I look forward to racing you!"

Baba had a quivering smirk on his face, which then turned into laughter; Chiya was left feeling uncomfortable. Samurai Goroh began to chuckle as well-but no one else. Baba smirked at her, "Just what we need, another _woman_ to bleed all over our track!" he said jokingly.

Chiya glared at him, then threw a strong punch across his face-easily knocking him down to the floor; she did this with her fingers curved-Seoli Idong. Baba grunted as he got back on his knees, before grinning at Chiya. Seppuku grabbed Chiya's arm quickly.

"Stop it Chiya!"

She then noticed the red dots moving across her face and torso, she gasped and swallowed nervously-F-Zero committee snipers were trained on her. She put down her hands and stepped back, "Okay, okay, I overreacted…"

She then looked down at Baba angrily, "I want you to know; that was a sexist thing to say, and your comment about women bleeding all over the place is terribly inaccur-"

"Settle down Flower…" Seppuku muttered as he tugged on her arm.

Baba stood up again and began walking away from her garage, several of the other racers began moving away as well. Chiya widened her eyes and looked at Seppuku quickly.

"Oh God! I'm not an evil racer now, am I?"

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "No, but you probably did gain and lose respect from certain racers-I bet someone like Antonio Guster approved of what you just did, but then someone like Silver Neelson likely disapproved."

"What do you think?"

Seppuku began to chuckle at her, "I think that was hilarious, but you can't start fights like that-it's against the law of F-Zero…" he then pointed his finger up, "Speaking of which, back on Earth I expect you to read the entire book of rules and guidelines."

Chiya groaned at him, "Why-y? How long is it? Are there pictures?"

"Shut up child…"

She nodded at him quickly, "Aye."

Seppuku looked out at the track, then crossed his arms as he took a few steps forward, "The dark roof really makes this look like Hell, huh?"

She wiped her forehead, "It feels like Hell too, and I had just taken a shower before I left…"

Seppuku looked back at her before he left, "You took a shower before this?"

Chiya rubbed her foot in small circles, "Well, yes-"

"Idiot…" he muttered as he walked away.

Chiya remained still, then looked back at the _Purring Kitten_, "I better figure out how to work the AC…"

To be continued…


	24. Lap 23

==Lap 23=

"Ladies and Gentlemen! After a long year of waiting, the Grand Prix has finally arrived!" the announcer shouter.

Massive amounts of fans began cheering and screaming, it had officially been one year since Chiya saw her first race in person-now she was racing in it. Chiya was sitting in the _Purring Kitten_ nervously, she knew this would be much more difficult than any ordinary race she had competed in. She remained in the garage, but was stuck staring at the crowd that was visible; it was almost terrifying at how much people would be watching her-there was even a distinct chance that her family was watching on Mysteria.

"Once again, the prize money is in the vicinity of a billion credits, but only one will be leaving the Grand Prix in the end a billionaire!"

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, she then held her forehead in awe, "That's right, I could fulfill my destiny and bring wealth to the Flower name-just by winning the Grand Prix…"

Chiya hesitantly pulled the headset up to her head and turned it on, she then turned her machine on just incase she was announced earlier than the other racers.

"Earl, I'm looking around for the AC, but I don't see it…"

Earl was in the private booth wide-eyed, momentarily scratching the back of his head, "U-uh…"

"Seppuku said all F-Zero machines have an AC, and I'm melting here…" Earl continued to tremble, then gritted his teeth nervously, Chiya momentarily exhaled, "You didn't put one in, did you?"

"I couldn't help it! Seppuku barely gave us enough time to get the F-Zero parts in, let alone an AC!"

Chiya sighed and shook her head negatively, "Okay, I'll cope with the heat, but I'm getting the shower before you and Seppuku."

Earl chuckled, "Fine, I was probably gonna' let you do that anyways."

"Last year, we had alliances, destruction, drama, and even saw Captain Falcon get taken out! What will this golden year bring us?" the announcer yelled.

Earl smirked as he looked at the cheering crowd, "Well, what will it bring, Chiya?"

"Fortune," she answered.

"At this time, we will introduce the contestants! Starting with last years top six!"

Chiya grabbed her wheel firmly and looked at the track, licking her lips as the time had finally arrived. Earl held his jaw as he looked down at the empty starting line-soon to be filled with about thirty-racers. Earl crossed his arms and looked down the right center of the track.

"Remember Chiya, stay really close behind Seppuku, keep your eyes on both Blaskovitz _and_ the race, and try not circling around the cylinder track-you could easily lose gravity and fall straight into the lava." Chiya widened her eyes at the mentioning of losing gravity, "But that probably won't happen unless you get struck by another racer with full force, which is why you keep clear of Blaskovitz."

"Yes, I'll be careful."

"Here we go! Our last year champion, spokeswoman and chief of the Galactic Federation, Jody Summer!"

Earl stuck his tongue out in disgust, he no longer had the same respect for Jody as he did before. The _White Cat _quickly came driving towards the starting line, waving to the many fans-there were many more Jody Summer fans in the crowd now that she won her first Grand Prix. Chiya found herself silently clapping for Jody, despite the fact that Jody had a somewhat hostile view on Chiya for reasons beyond her.

"Clone and arch-rival of Captain Falcon, born in a lab, Blood Falcon!"

The _Blood Hawk_ moved to the right of the _White Cat_ and stood still patiently, Blood Falcon chuckled to himself as he knew who the next two racers would be. Earl stared at Blood Falcon intensely, forgetting that he had gotten second place in the last Grand Prix-this would give him an initial edge over Chiya and Seppuku since he was so close to the starting line.

"The crime fighting vigilante, former Lieutenant Detective of the Galactic Space Federation, Lieutenant Seppuku!"

Both Chiya and Earl were shocked to hear massive amounts of fans cheering-this was the first year Seppuku ever had somewhat of a fan base. The last Grand Prix was very eventful for Seppuku, as he had created several dramatic scenarios on each track-giving him prestige in the eyes of the fans. The _Red Dove_ slowly stopped next to the _Blood Hawk_, but naturally, Seppuku opened up his cockpit and leapt out, preparing to converse with Blood Falcon. Earl nodded his head approvingly at Seppuku, for once finding this a good thing to do. There were hundred of F-Zero Committee snipers prepared to fire at anyone who broke the _No Violence_ rule-therefore Seppuku and Blood Falcon could speak without combating.

"The living legend and icon of F-Zero, Captain Falcon!"

The _Blue Falcon_ quickly came right up to the _Red Dove_, Captain Falcon immediately leaped out of his vehicle and ran up to Seppuku and Blood Falcon. Jody Summer then could be seen walking towards the three, just like always-there would be a somewhat large pre-race conversation, always started by Seppuku.

"Well, Seppuku's got the gang all together…" Earl muttered.

"Will there be enough time for me to jump in?" asked Chiya.

"Depends when you're announced, I'm kind of guessing that you'll be announced last since you're new."

Chiya sighed and looked back up as the _Fire Stingray_ had come up to the vehicles-only he didn't get out of his vehicle like the others. Finally, the _Deep Claw_, driven by Octoman drove up-these were the top ranking six from the last Grand Prix. Chiya sat back and exhaled, _This is gonna' take forever…_ she thought impatiently.

"We will now call up our two new racers!"

Chiya shook her head and gasped, quickly grabbing the wheel as her eyes quivered fearfully. Earl smirked as he looked down the track, preparing to see Chiya at long last begin her dream as an F-Zero racer. She gritted her teeth and prepared to accelerate.

"The new young female racer, born on Mysteria-now running from a dark past, Chiya Flower!"

She swallowed nervously and quickly put her speed up as much as possible, she immediately darted out of the garage onto the track. She began to panic somewhat at the sight of all the fans-they were all likely looking at her. She closed her eyes and exhaled as she approached the starting line-but then did something clumsy. She ran straight into the back of the _Red Dove_, but luckily didn't smash it. She gasped and backed up, then began to turn red in embarrassment.

Seppuku angrily turned away from the group of racers and stomped his foot constantly, "Chiya! What the Hell are you doing!?"

"Sorry!" she shouted out the cockpit.

The crowd began to laugh at this, she let out a fake smile as she looked at the crowd in horror-even Jody Summer and Captain Falcon were laughing. She dipped her head down slightly and began to turn red, _Smooth…_ she thought in frustration.

"Don't worry Chiya, they're just laughing at the way Seppuku responded-don't let them discourage you," said Earl.

Chiya looked up to her left at Seppuku's private booth, she could see Earl standing over the ledge looking down at her. Chiya nodded and began to pull off her headset, "I'll be right back, I'm gonna' see what Seppuku's doing."

"Alright."

She then set the headset down and leapt out of the _Purring Kitten_, the four racers stared at her as she pranced over towards Seppuku. Blood Falcon looked at her arms and legs and smirked.

"Little Chiya, why are you hiding the scars we gave you with makeup?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes at Blood Falcon angrily, "Yeah, well, why do you wear a purple and pink helmet?"

Captain Falcon smirked at Blood Falcon, "She's right you know, why not black and red?"

Blood Falcon pointed at his face, "Quiet bird…"

"First racer to ever build _and_ race with an F-Zero tuned hover bike, Brock Blaskovitz!"

Chiya then widened her eyes and grabbed Seppuku's arm, hiding behind him somewhat. Blood Falcon grinned as he watched Brock come driving down the center of the track. Captain Falcon looked down at Chiya, then back up at Brock; the muscular man then got off his bike and began walking towards the five-he was staring intensely at Chiya. Seppuku grinned at Brock and began to chuckle.

"Finally, I get to kill you on the track-just as satisfying as it would be with a gun."

Brock stopped in front of Seppuku and looked down at Chiya, "You made a bad decision running from our ship, life will only get harder for you now-as we have Excalibur and Dark Rose on our side."

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "Chiya nearly killed Excalibur _and_ Dark Rose-and Chiya's not even a strong person, you have nothing to gloat about."

Blood Falcon shrugged at him, "Dark Rose is a little slow in the head, but she's dark and sexy as Hell."

Seppuku smirked at him, "Well, she _is_ a clone of Chiya after all…"

Chiya stepped away from Seppuku and poked him, "Hey! Now that could hurt my feelings!"

Brock grabbed Chiya's arm, completely startling her. He had a smile on his face as he looked down at all of the slightly visible scars.

"That was the best time of my life, cutting through that flesh with the razor knife…" Everyone except Blood Falcon gasped in horror at this comment, Chiya was stuck gazing into his eye-images of that dark hour of torture going through her head, "All you did was scream though, I want to bring you back to the ship so I can work on your knees and elbows, torture you until you cry…"

Chiya grunted and took a step back, "Well, I don't cry-and you're not gonna' get that pleasure ever again…"

Jody appeared to be shocked the most, her eyes completely widened with a look of horror. Brock then chuckled, "I've been trying to fetch an idea to Black Shadow-capture both you and the mechanic, and force you two to do these punishments to each other instead."

Chiya gasped and shook her head, "Earl would never cut off my knees, neither would I…"

"Then I'll torture both of you until you do…"

Jody stomped her foot down angrily, "That's enough!"

Everyone looked at her, but she didn't appear to have anything to say-she just wanted to stop hearing about the horrific methods of torture Black Shadow had. Chiya shook her head in disbelief, _We have got to kill this guy…_ she thought seriously.

Blood Falcon looked at Jody while chuckling, "Or what? You'll send your little play ships at us? We have a cruiser centuries more advanced than yours…"

Jody shook her fist at him, "Don't get cocky! The Federation has powerful assets you could never imagine…"

Brock smiled at her and swished his hand at Chiya, "Whatever, we're not suppose to capture her again anyways…"

Chiya exhaled in relief, "Or Earl?"  
Brock nodded, "Kill you and the mechanic, capture Seppuku, kill Captain Falcon-those are our current plans."

Blood Falcon pointed his finger up, "Black Shadow just said don't bring them back to the ship again, he said nothing about torturing them…"

Brock grinned, "Exactly, I'll take them out to some warehouse and do that on my own time…"

Seppuku pointed at the two, "So you two are in an alliance then, looks like to me that you want a war…"

Blood Falcon grinned, "Of course, you and Chiya?"

Captain Falcon placed his hand on Seppuku's shoulder, "Me, Seppuku, and Chiya-you'll never get away with your evil deeds!"

Seppuku growled and slapped his hand off of his shoulder, "Yes, us three…" he said somewhat angrily.

Jody Summer momentarily walked away from the five without saying anything-she didn't appear interested in forging an alliance with Seppuku. Seppuku shook his head negatively at Jody, then looked at Blood Falcon.

"Well good luck you deranged maniac, you'll need it…" Seppuku said threateningly.

Blood Falcon grabbed his hand and shook it, "This will be a Death race to remember!"

Seppuku smirked at him as he approached the _Red Dove_, "Only you won't be around to remember it…"

Chiya hesitantly walked away from the group back to the _Purring Kitten_, she was a little shook up by Brock's intentions, but had to set it aside for the sake of the Grand Prix. Blood Falcon and Brock were the only ones standing together at this point, they were pointing at the _Blue Falcon_ and _Red Dove_ constantly, then broke away to their own vehicles. Chiya got back in the _Purring Kitten _and closed the cockpit, she put the headset back on and strapped herself in.

"Well, what'd they say?" asked Earl.

She looked up at the private booth, but Earl then walked away from the ledge out of sight, "Blaskovitz wants to torture and kill you and me, Blood Falcon announced his alliance with Brock, and Seppuku forged an alliance with me and Captain Falcon," she explained.

"Sounds interesting, but just as we had expected-just stick to the plan and we should be able to pull this off."

Chiya looked back and could see that all the racers were nearly announced, she had a good one-to-two minutes left before the race would start. She then looked at Brock who was calmly sitting on his bike, "Keep an eye out for Dark Rose, I have a feeling that they may have her snooping around-maybe laying traps…"

"No problem."

She laid her head back against the chair and exhaled, then closed her eyes as she was in a heavy thought. _This is one of the harder tracks, if I can pull this one off-then I can probably pull the next few off…_ she opened her eyes with a look of determination, then gripped her steering wheel firmly.

"Let's do this!"

Mere minutes later, Chiya remained in the _Purring Kitten_ full of courage, she had two excellent racers guarding her back. She was stuck gazing at the mist of fire flying in the air, that was when she realized-this was the first time she's ever been coping with the heat. She rubbed her forehead and still found it to be very sweaty, but she wasn't groaning or complaining at all. Brock wasn't looking at her this time, simply waiting for the race to begin; Chiya mostly feared whether he could smash her machine before she even made it past the starting line.

"With the racers on the track, we can now kick off the annual Grand Prix!"

Chiya swallowed nervously, then looked over at the _Red Dove_; she wasn't very afraid of Blaskovitz, rather she was fearful of how she would perform on the track-and whether she would go off course into the lava.

"At this time, all racers may start their engines!"

Chiya quickly turned her machine on along with everyone else, she then held the wheel ever more tightly.

"Right away-move away from Blaskovitz, drive near Seppuku," instructed Earl.

"Right."

Seppuku quickly glanced around his machine and looked at the _Purring Kitten_, it was probable that both Seppuku and Captain Falcon would protect Chiya from Blaskovitz-only Captain Falcon would likely be tangled up with Blood Falcon. Chiya then narrowed her eyes as she looked at the _Stalin's Might II_.

"Wait, why am I worried about Blaskovitz at all? I'm driving a war machine compared to his vehicle."

Earl chuckled, "Maybe because of his incredible performance in the Auction ra-"

The two were suddenly interrupted as the three monitors began to lower, the number three on each screen. Chiya knew that everything had led up to this moment-there was no turning back.

Three. Two. One. Go.

All the racers took off, Chiya made an excellent start and got to the side of the _Red Dove_-away from _Stalin's Might II_. The initial combat that occurred was between Blood Falcon and Jody Summer, they began dashing into each other the first moment the race started. Chiya drove just mere meters behind the _Red Dove_, she was also trying to stay to its left so he could slow down and block Blaskovitz from her. Chiya gasped as she only _just_ understood how the track worked-they were driving on a gravitational cylinder that they could drive around. She looked at Blaskovitz and lowered her eyebrows, _If he wanted, he could just keep sliding to the right-he'd eventually get around to my left…_ Seppuku was beginning to drift away slightly, Chiya grunted and continued to follow him-but he wouldn't stop drifting.

"Why's he moving to the side?"

"There's arrows imprinted on the cylinder, stay on the arrows and they'll lead you to boost pads," answered Earl.

"What's a boost pad?"

Chiya and Seppuku were then passed by the _Night Thunder_-Silver Neelson's vehicle. Seppuku was now in sixth, Chiya in seventh.

"A boost pad is a little electric powered device that'll force your machine over the maximum speed for about three seconds."

Chiya looked down at her speed leveler, "Won't that overheat my engine?"

"It's only for three seconds, and trust me, a boost pad always gives you an edge-so always try hitting them.

Chiya nodded and continued to drive alongside Seppuku, the track wasn't very special besides the fact that it was a cylinder, it had a few obstacles near the end however. The _Blue Falcon_ momentarily met up with the _Blood Hawk_, both determined to destroy each other as always-Jody Summer had been knocked back a few racers. Surprisingly, it was Samurai Goroh and Silver Neelson that were combating for first. Chiya was then feeling somewhat discouraged as the _Green Panther_ passed them as well.

"Why is everyone getting ahead of us so easily?"

Earl observed the TV screen inside of the private booth and nodded, "There were two boost pads on the other side of the cylinder, just keep going and you'll come across one sooner or later."

Chiya squinted and looked up ahead, there was a glowing yellow pad far up ahead. She grinned then looked to her right, Brock was nowhere to be seen. She began to panic and looked around for him, he wasn't behind her either-meaning he was on the other side of the cylinder. _This could be bad…_ she thought nervously.

The _Blue Falcon_ and _Blood Hawk_ both passed through the boost pad, Captain Falcon now made his way up the track quickly, but Samurai Goroh and Silver Neelson were still in the lead. Chiya was about to hit the boost pad with Seppuku, she scanned her surroundings one last time for Brock, but he was nowhere to be seen. The _Red Dove_ and _Purring Kitten_ boosted up the track quickly, easily bringing themselves past the _Green Panther_. Chiya looked behind her quickly, the _Stalin's Might II_ and _Red Gazelle _could now be seen behind her.

"If Blaskovitz comes up on your side, try bashing into his leg-that'd knock him out, maybe even kill him," Earl proposed.

Chiya looked back again, Antonio Guster was quickly catching up to the two; she then noticed that Brock indeed had his legs completely exposed, she could easily break his legs if the opportunity was presented to her. Jody Summer was just behind Brock and Mighty Gazelle, though she didn't align herself with Seppuku-she still felt it was her duty to stop Blaskovitz. Samurai Goroh found an opportunity to side attack Silver Neelson, but Silver Neelson did a spin attack that sent Goroh to a complete stop. Chiya widened her eyes as they nearly ran right into the _Fire Stingray_, he was now a few meters behind Chiya.

"Does Goroh still hate you?" asked Earl.

"No, yes, I don't really know!" she panicked.

Earl rubbed his chin as he observed her situation, "Change of plans, work on passing Seppuku-the danger is now behind you."

"Will he get mad at me?"

"Hell yes, just do it anyways."

Chiya hesitantly moved her speed leveler just over the red zone slightly-putting her at risk of engine overheating. She slowly began to gain ground on Seppuku, momentarily getting on his side. Chiya looked over at the _Red Dove_'s cockpit, Seppuku was staring at her somewhat angrily. Chiya held two of her fingers up-signaling that there were two rivals behind them, then moved her fingers around in an attempt to explain her decision to swap positions. Seppuku shook his head in confusion, not understanding what she was saying; luckily, he knew that she was up to something. Seppuku dropped his speed slightly and let her take the lead, Brock and Goroh were gaining on Seppuku at this point.

"You should probably help him if those two try tag teaming him."

"I know, I'd go back and attack Blaskovitz."

Chiya looked to her side and found that they had passed a restoration pad, she realized that finding this would be difficult since it could be anywhere around the cylinder-she would have to remember its location.

Earl wrote down the area of the restoration pad on a piece of paper, "Don't worry, I'll warn you when the restoration pad is coming up next l-"

Earl's arm was then softly grabbed, he widened his eyes and looked down-Dark Rose was standing next to him, rubbing his arm somewhat passionately.

"What the Hell!?" Earl shouted as he leapt back.

"What is it Earl?" asked Chiya.

Earl gritted his teeth as he looked into Dark Rose's eyes, "Nothing, just keep on racing…"

Earl muted his microphone and growled at her, "What are you doing here?"

Rose began to laugh at him maniacally, "Just thought I'd stop by with my good friend!"

Earl smirked at her, "Sadly, I can't say the same about you…"

Rose glared at him with a large smirk, "You silly mechanic," she said rubbing his hair roughly.

Earl lowered his eyebrows and turned back towards the ledge, he couldn't fight her since the F-Zero committee enforced a no-fight rule in any track; violation of this rule would apply the person for immediate termination.

Chiya and Seppuku were coming up on a few blue cylinders sticking out of the cylinder-these were simply obstacles meant to stop the racer. Chiya drove towards the obstacles cautiously, _Is my machine too large to fit through?_ she thought nervously. She quickly checked the sides of her machine-quickly realizing that she _was_ too large. Chiya very quickly moved to the side, dodging the obstacles just in time. Seppuku momentarily followed her, Brock was coming up on both of them quickly. Chiya grinded her teeth nervously, then looked in front of her-she was already about to enter her second lap.

"The second lap? Already?"

"Wi- will you stop rubbing me already?" asked Earl.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows in confusion, "Rubbing you?"

"Wha- oh not you, Dark Rose is here with me."

Chiya widened her eyes, "Huh!?"

She then looked forwards as she crossed the checkpoint, she and Seppuku were now authorized to use boost power. Chiya immediately boosted forward, forcing Seppuku to do so as well. Blood Falcon had broken away from Captain Falcon and went up towards Silver Neelson, who was still in the lead. Captain Falcon boosted up to defend Silver, he wasn't going to let Blood Falcon race without a fight. _Well, he is keeping Blood Falcon off of us I suppose…_ she thought as she watched the two vehicles go at each other.

She looked back and found that the _Fire Stingray_ was nearly neck-and-neck with the _Red Dove_. _Watch it Goroh, one hostile move-and I'll go wild on you…_

"Do it, I dare you Goroh…" muttered Chiya.

"Careful Chi', we have enough enemies."

"But he stabbed you over Sand Ocean, he has to pay…"

Earl grunted at her and chuckled, "That's why you're still mad at Goroh, because he stabbed me a year ago?"

Dark Rose looked up at him with a smirk, "I remember when that happened, I held you while you bled-nearly about to weep for the first time," she then rubbed her hands together deviously, "I would gladly watch you die if I could go back in time…"

Earl growled at her, "You, are not Chiya, you're just an imposter-a clone."

"A witch!" she corrected angrily.

"Wha-atever!"

Chiya found that the _Stalin's Might II_ was finally boosting its way towards the two, Goroh didn't appear prepared to attack Seppuku-but he wasn't being friendly either. The _Red Gazelle_ and _Green Panther_ was close behind Brock, but he had boosters that wouldn't die down for nearly seven seconds. Chiya gasped and looked back at the _Red Dove_-the _Fire Stingray_ was accidentally blocking Seppuku's way, leaving Chiya to fend for herself.

"What do I do!?" she asked franticly.

Dark Rose began to laugh, she could just slightly hear Chiya's voice on Earl's headset, "Go Blaskovitz!" she rooted.

"Chiya, prepare to ditch Seppuku and go around the cylinder, I don't want you combating Blaskovitz until Seppuku can help you."

"Under the cylinder, now?"

Earl nodded to himself, "There's two boost pads directly underneath you, hurry up and you can get both of these, then quickly drive back up here-there'll be one more."

Chiya quickly began to slide to the right, quickly moving around the cylinder as she drove forward. Chiya began to tremble as the lava was now above her head, she was technically driving upside down.

"What if he gets every boost pad as well?"

"Then boost from the restoration area right up to Captain Falcon."

"But then I'm paired up with Blood Falcon, is that a good idea?"

Earl shrugged to himself, "Hopefully Seppuku would be able to catch up…"

Chiya boosted down the track, a yellow boost pad could be seen far up ahead. Chiya didn't see the _Stalin's Might II_, but she was surprised to see many other racers now behind her, the _Golden Fox_ leading the pack behind her. _So everyone's racing down here… _she thought while nodding. Chiya boosted again, bringing her right through the boost pad-she began to shake constantly at how fast she was now going, she was completely sent back into her seat by force.

"Be careful Chiya! You could lose gravity if you go _that_ fast."

Chiya nodded to herself, "You're right, my machine got a very light feeling for a second."

"Avoid that at all costs, never boost if-"

"Don't listen to him, do it Chiya!" Dark Rose yelled with a smirk.

Earl poked her forehead and pushed her away, "Why are you still here?"

Chiya saw the other boost pad up ahead, she boosted towards it and successfully went through it, this time her vehicle stayed on the ground perfectly. She looked around for the third one, but couldn't remember where it was. She looked up and saw that she was nearly caught up with Captain Falcon. _Oh my God, what place am I in?_

"Get around the cylinder quickly! Other boost pad coming up from the top."

Chiya acknowledged the order and shifted back around the cylinder track, the lava was once again under her. She followed the imprinted arrows, the final boost pad was up ahead, though she was concerned whether she would be caught by Blaskovitz by then. She looked back and saw that the _Fire Stingray_ had passed Seppuku, _Stalin's Might II_ was closely following Goroh.

"Seppuku's doing a crap job of protecting you right now, stay vigilant."

Chiya was mainly staring at the _Fire Stingray_, contemplating whether he was a threat to her or not. On one hand, Goroh didn't attack Seppuku-but on the other, Chiya had been offending Goroh any time they could make contact with each other. Chiya hit the third boost pad and flew far up the track, she then boosted and finally arrived shortly behind the _Blue Falcon_. She looked back and saw the _Stalin's Might II_ coming towards the four with his unusually capable booster. She puckered her lip and looked at the _Blood Hawk_, who was right in front of the _Blue Falcon_. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, _Why are they not fighting?_ It was then that Blood Falcon did a spin attack, causing the _Blue Falcon_ to run into him and swirl. Chiya looked back as her last ally fell behind near the _Stalin's Might II_-Captain Falcon regained control just in time, keeping himself in fourth. Chiya exhaled in relief for Captain Falcon, but she was now faced with Blood Falcon on her own-with the exception of Silver Neelson, who was still leading the race.

"Earl, who's this guy up ahead of me?"

Dark Rose grabbed Earl's mouth and pointed her finger up, "The glo-orious Blood Falcon! Though I don't appreciate it when he hangs around me so much…"

"Shut up; that's the Night Thunder, Silver Neelson's vehicle."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at the two racers ahead of her, "That old man's owning this race…"

Chiya decided to turn around the cylinder to the opposite side of Blood Falcon.

"Eh, careful Chiya, the only restoration pad is coming up on your left in about ten seconds."

Chiya jolted her head up startled at the warning and quickly shifted to the left. She could slightly see the roof of the _Blood Hawk_ over her shoulder. She then saw the _Green Panther_ coming right up on Blood Falcon, she still didn't see the _Red Dove_ anywhere. She growled as she then drove towards the boost pad; the _Night Thunder_ then drove down in front of her just in time and ran through the restoration pad. Chiya turned up her speed slightly into the red zone as she approached the restoration pad as well. The _Green Panther_ knocked the _Blood Hawk _aside and boosted right up to Chiya; she gasped as she made slight eye contact with Antonio Guster. _Does he hold a grudge because of what Seppuku did?_ Guster was stuck gazing into Chiya's eyes, but his distraction ended up being his downfall-he had forgotten to drive through the restoration pad with her, he drove right by it completely. Guster slammed his hands down angrily, as he would need to complete his second lap with little energy. Chiya widened her eyes and boosted away from him, the _Blood Hawk_ didn't need the resoration pad somehow-leaving Chiya to suspect that his booster was also abnormal; like the _Stalin's Might II_.

Chiya looked back quickly and exhaled in relief, she was fearful that Guster would now be enraged at her for distracting him from the restoration pad-as this very well could have lost him the race.

"You're in second, amazing job Chiya-but get ready for a Hellstorm, both Blaskovitz and Blood Falcon are coming for you."

Chiya had a hunted look as she quickly scanned her surroundings, the _Blood Hawk_ was slowly trying to get on her side, the _Stalin's Might II_ was right behind her out of utter nowhere. Chiya could also see the _Fire Stingray_ and _Green Panther_ going at each other from behind Brock-the _Blue Falcon_ was tailing the _Blood Hawk_.

"Solution?"

"Get as damn rough as you want on Blaskovitz, I'll have your machine repaired no matter how damaged you get it."

Chiya flipped open the switch on her steering wheel that would let her side-attack, she put her thumb on it as she prepared to attack the _Stalin's Might II_.

"Physically, that guy can kick my ass-but in the races you need both mental skills and a good machine, something I likely have more of."

Earl looked at Dark Rose with a smirk, "Say, is Blaskovitz a good racer?"

Rose chuckled and brushed her bangs aside, "He doesn't know anything about racing, he's only here to kill the inferior Chiya."

Earl chuckled at her, "Thanks dumbass," he looked back at the track with a grin, "Shake him until you get to the obstacles, right after you get past those-attack him with full force.

Chiya quickly boosted up closer to the _Night Thunder_, she was holding her spot in second well.

"Look out!" shouted Earl.

Chiya was just nearly hit by the _Green Panther_-he'd been propelled into the air and went straight at Chiya. She gasped as the _Green Panther_ span out of control while on fire-momentarily an explosion erupted off the engine. She looked back and found that the _Fire Stingray_ drove neck-to-neck with the _Stalin's Might II_-Goroh had easily retired the Antonio Guster since his vehicle was already so low on energy.

"Da-amn! That must have sent a shock down your spine!"

Chiya nodded to herself with quivering eyes, "It sounded like a rocket was coming right at me!"

"That was technically your fault, so don't be surprised if Guster wants us dead now…"

Chiya sighed, "Great…"

The _Fire Stingray_ and _Stalin's Might II_ were attacking each other, but Goroh was being pushed off to the side-only this was pointless since it was a cylinder shaped track. Blood Falcon and Captain Falcon also resumed fighting-she was in the clear for now. She had only just realized what was happening: she was in second, was beating nearly every other racer, and was having a calm drive down the track. She smiled as she had finally realized-she did have a shot at winning the Grand Prix after all.

"Where the Heck is Seppuku?"

"Eleventh place."

Chiya widened her eyes and shook her head negatively, "I thought he was suppose to be helping me!"

"He's right behind the White Cat, I think Jody's blocking him."

Chiya growled and looked to her left-she was then shocked to see Brock coming right at her from the side.

"Woah!" she screamed as she hit the brakes.

She had prevented the attack just in time, Brock had side-attacked-but missed, but he was now in second. She was extremely shocked to see that as a result of that simple braking, Captain Falcon, Blood Falcon, and Samurai Goroh had all passed her as well-putting her in sixth.

"I go that many ranks down just because I had to brake!?"

"'fraid so, every second counts-braking probably puts you a second or two behind from completion."

Chiya shook her head negatively, she didn't want this inconvenience to discourage her however. She sneered at Brock as he continued moving down the track, she was now determined to attack him head-on. She boosted past all of the obstacles and tried catching up to the _Fire Stingray_-she squinted at the back of the machine.

"Bad boosters, heavy machine, but fast as Hell…" she muttered aloud.

"I would change position, get up near Captain Falcon now, surely he'll help you get back up in the lead."

Chiya snapped her fingers and nodded, "Oh, duh…" She then moved away from Goroh and went back up above the cylinder, now behind the _Blue Falcon_. It was at this time that they crossed the checkpoint-entering the final lap.

"One lap left Chiya, grab all boost pads and use your energy efficiently!"

Chiya looked back and found that the _Red Gazelle_ was about to pass her, this persuaded her to boost away from him. She was about to pass Captain Falcon, but was suddenly confronted with Brock as he got to her right. She finally growled in rage and whipped her head at him with sharp eyes.

"Oh for the love of..!"

She finally drove right into the _Stalin's Might II_ and began pushing him roughly aside. She was pushing the bike easily, but soon found that she was pushing him around the cylinder constantly.

"Get his leg!" Earl instructed.

Chiya didn't have time to do this however, so she commenced a spin attack-fortunately it was just as effective. Brock was easily propelled off of his bike, the machine slid a few more meters down the track as he quickly got on his knees. Chiya looked back and gasped in awe.

"Well, that was easy…"

"Now win the race! Two boost pads coming up to your far left!"

Chiya turned roughly towards the center of the cylinder and hit the boost pad, she immediately flew by the _Fire Stingray_-who had missed the first pad.

"Fourth place, keep pushing!"

She boosted one last time into the next boost pad, easily putting herself on between the _Blue Falcon_ and _Blood Hawk; _respectively, she was in third. Chiya was bouncing around in her seat, completely inspired with the taste of excitement and thrill.

"My butt won't stop bouncing around!" she said gleefully.

Earl chuckled, "Well tell your butt to stay still, this isn't over yet…"

Dark Rose smirked at him, "My butt's better than Chiya's butt."

Earl narrowed his eyes at her, "We're talking about racing-not butts."

Chiya was now biting her finger as she looked at the _Blood Hawk_, she was contemplating whether she wanted to assist Captain Falcon, or try passing Neelson for first. _No one has ever been able to beat Blood Falcon, I don't think I'd be the one…_ she thought cautiously. The _Red Gazelle_ and _Fire Stingray_ were both boosting up towards the group of racers, this was somewhat making her want to simply win the race. _Then again, Captain Falcon has never had an ally to help him-maybe together we can finally kill that wanker…_ Chiya nodded and made the difficult decision to start moving towards the side of the _Blood Hawk_.

"Chiya-a…" Earl said slow and seriously.

"I want Captain Falcon to view me as a valuable asset, I have a feeling that we can do this together!"

"It's your first race and you're almost winning! Don't risk it."

Chiya grinded her teeth with a hostile expression as she quickly rammed into the _Blood Hawk_, "We'll just have to find out!"

Captain Falcon grunted in shock, then moved up to the other side of the _Blood Hawk _quickly-the two were in a perfect position to box him in. Blood Falcon chuckled as his machine was suddenly being pushed from both sides, he was stuck and was being dragged by Chiya and Captain Falcon. Chiya smirked at Blood Falcon, but he didn't appear fearful of her at all. The restoration pad was coming up quickly, the main problem was that dragging Blood Falcon's machine was drastically lowering their speed. Blood Falcon then surprised both of them by boosting-this knocked both Chiya and Captain Falcon aside.

"Okay, you tried your best-now leave him be," Earl proposed.

Chiya whipped her head back and forth angrily, "No way!"

She ran through the restoration pad and immediately boosted towards the _Blood Hawk_, Captain Falcon did the exact same thing. She boosted again, very determined to strike Blood Falcon-even if he did have a very well built machine.

Blood Falcon turned his head slightly and could see the _Purring Kitten_ chasing him, he smiled at this and nodded, "I hope you dug your grave before coming here…"

The _Blood Hawk_ began to slow down, intentionally preparing to combat Chiya-she dipped her head down fiercely as she prepared to side attack the _Blood Hawk_. Drama was filling the crowd near the finish line as the monitors were all centered on these three racers. Chiya prepared to boost again, about to attack him in her first dangerous engagement.

"Here goes noth-"

She was suddenly surprised as the _Red Dove_ boosted out of nowhere, he was going three times as fast as either of the three. Blood Falcon suddenly gasped, Seppuku then **smashed** right into the _Blood Hawk_-sending him flying like a bullet. Chiya gasped in amazement, the _Blood Hawk_ was sent straight into the lava; the splash left lava all over the track. The crowd began to go wild at the sight of Blood Falcon disappearing into the body of lava-many began attacking each other; the F-Zero committee immediately had to send law enforcement to calm the crowd down. Chiya's eyes were trembling as she gazed at the lava-nothing was left of the _Blood Hawk_-he was likely sent hundreds of meters under.

"My God! He's gone? That's it? We don't have to worry about him anymore!?"

Earl trembling in amazement, then looked down at Dark Rose-she had a very bland expression on her face. Earl shook his head in awe, "H- he's dead! It's over."

Seppuku chuckled to himself as he looked over at the _Blue Falcon_, "There, I just did what you've been trying to do for years," he said aloud jokingly.

Dark Rose made quirking movements on her mouth, then giggled maniacally, "It's been fun mechanic, but I really must be going…" she then swiped her finger along his chin, "Kill ya' later!"

Earl looked back at her as she ran with superhuman speed, she was out of the private booth in mere seconds. He continued to look at the door, then slowly looked at the lava-Chiya could happily take credit for this, as Blood Falcon's downfall was because of his distraction with her.

Moments later, the racers all passed the finish line: Silver Neelson took first, Goroh second, Mighty Gazelle third, Seppuku fourth, Chiya fifth, and Captain Falcon sixth. Chiya quickly drove past the crowds alongside the _Red Dove_ everyone was cheering-some were even booing the two. Chiya knew that the crowd was likely cheering Seppuku for finally ridding such a threat from the universe, but she was happy to know that some amount of the cheering was because of her initial good start to the Grand Prix. This race had proven something to her-that she _was_ F-Zero material; F-Zero was what would bring fame to the Flower name, whether she won the Grand Prix or not, she would get her family well known just by racing.

Several minutes later, Chiya and Earl stood around the private booth waiting for Seppuku-the media was asking him a few questions which was holding him up. Earl grinned at Chiya and nodded, "Looks like you're in it to win it then."

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "I'm happy getting fifth," she rubbed her hands together gleefully, "And now Blood Falcon is dead."

Earl chuckled and gave her a high-five, "May his soul rot in Hell!"

"Blood Falcon isn't dead."

Chiya and Earl turned around surprised as Seppuku approached them, Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "What? He fell into lava, that man's dead."

Seppuku smirked at her, "Nope, he'll be back for the next race."

Earl laughed at Seppuku, "Okay Lieutenant, let me explain something; lava is hot and can burn stuff, now here's the catch-lava can burn skin!"

Seppuku growled at him, "Shut the Hell up Bendek, I know what lava is-just trust me, okay?"

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "So you're saying, he'll be okay?"

Seppuku nodded affirmatively. Chiya didn't believe him at all, but wasn't prepared to challenge him; Seppuku seemed set on the idea that Blood Falcon could survive a fall into pure lava.

"For now though, be proud of your accomplishment-you got a start not many other racers get."

Earl snapped his fingers and grinned, "You know who Chiya reminds me of, exactly?" Seppuku and Chiya both looked at him, "You," he said poking Seppuku.

Seppuku smirked at him, "Hm?"

"You started off fighting both Blood Falcon _and_ Captain Falcon-Chiya went ahead and fought Blood Falcon while keeping a good position in the race; you two are very alike."

Seppuku nodded in agreement, "I won't disagree with you, I knew Chiya was more than just a dumb blonde."

Chiya smiled at him, then got an offended look, "Hey!"

Seppuku put his hand on her forehead and swiped it across, getting her sweat all over her glove. Chiya dipped her head with an embarrassed look, "I'm sorry you have to see me like this guys…"

"You'll be happy to know that the next race will take us to the planet White Land."

Earl groaned, "Oh great, so me and Chiya are just swapping positions basically, meaning I'll be the one groaning this time?"

"That's right, White Land is a very cold planet."

Chiya smirked, "Thank God, now let's get off this damn planet!" she immediately rushed past the two, she then looked back at them slowly, "Whether you two like it or not…"

"…that shower's mine."

To be continued…


	25. Lap 24

==Lap 24=

It was early in the morning and Earl was sleeping safely back in his bed. Chiya and Seppuku had both placed well in the race, but the biggest highlight of that race by far was Blood Falcon's sudden demise-or so they believed, as Seppuku found this to be unlikely. Chiya and Seppuku had both come out of the race with little damage done to their vehicles, leaving Earl with simple touch ups to do on the F-Zero machines. He began to grunt in his sleep constantly, then began to shiver.

"What the Hell…" he muttered with a dazed tone.

He felt that something was very cold and burning on his forehead, followed by a liquid feeling moving down his forehead to his nose. He groaned and moved his hand slowly to his forehead in confusion, though he wasn't exactly awake; he could then tell that an ice cube was melting on his forehead-just by the texture of the cube. Earl lowered his eyebrows and shook his head slightly.

"I don't- huh?" he muttered in confusion. He then could hear a very silent giggle right in front of him, he raised his hand in front of him and finally found the source of all this-he could tell that he grasped some hair. He launched his eyes open, revealing Chiya very close up to his face with a playful look.

"Chi- Chiya, what the Hell are you doing?"

"I wanted to see how long it would take for you to wake up after I put an ice cube on your head."

Earl found the ice cube had fallen onto his chest, he picked it up and found that it was now only the size of his fingernail, "This is really small," he narrowed his eyes at her, "How long were you watching me..?"

Chiya shrugged, "Dunno' a few minutes…"

Earl covered up his chest with his blanket and glanced away from her, "That's kind of creepy Chiya, do I have to start locking my door?"

She shook his head at him franticly, "No, no, I just wanted you to wake up so we can talk about that race."

"What's there to talk about?"

She puckered her lips and shrugged, "I don't know, I just really wanna' talk about it, it was such an adventure!"

Earl then looked over at his alarm clock-it was only three in the morning, "Chiya get back to bed, it's too damn early in the day…"

Chiya dipped her head down with a disappointed look, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Look, just go back to bed for a few hours, we can talk later in the morning…"

Chiya smiled and nodded, "O-okay then!"

Earl easily collapsed back onto his pillow and shut his eyes, he wiped the water off of his forehead and smirked as he began to daze away. The sound of a blanket could then be heard, followed by somewhat of a plummeting noise, Earl opened his eyes somewhat startled and looked at the door-it was still closed. Earl fought to keep his eyes open as he scratched his head, he then looked down and found that Chiya was sleeping beside his bed.

"Any reason why you're sleeping right next to me?" he asked somewhat frustrated.

Chiya laid her head down on her pillow and looked away from him, "Mauser's litter box smells, so I've been sleeping here all night."

Earl jolted his head up at this, then exhaled, "So you've been in he- fine, whatever-goodnight."

A few hours later, Earl stood inside of the kitchen with two cups of coffee, as Chiya was just as fired up to talk about F-Zero as she was earlier in the morning. Earl was looking at the headline of a newspaper he had picked up minutes ago; the subject of Blood Falcon dying was all over the news-Seppuku was mentioned several times within the text. Blood Falcon getting struck by Seppuku was the most sudden and random thing many fans had ever seen, many were agreeing that Blood Falcon slowing down to level himself with Chiya is what gave Seppuku the sudden edge. Chiya momentarily opened the door with a bag in her hand, the bag was the first thing Earl looked at.

"Where ya' going?"

She shook her head negatively and lifted the bag up, "Oh no, this is my Mysterian varsity soccer uniform."

"Ah, so you were telling the truth."

Chiya gave him a cheeky look, "Of course I was," She then dropped down and began digging in her bag, "I'll showcase the uniform for you."

Earl grunted and stepped back, "R- right here? Shouldn't you change in the bathroom or something?"

She swished her hand at him, "I trust you, just turn around while I change."

Earl hesitantly turned around towards the kitchen appliances, he was both feeling flattered and uncomfortable. Chiya pulled all of the clothing out of the bag and reached for the collar of her shirt; she looked up at Earl cautiously. _If he so much as turns his head, I'm gonna' thrust that head of his under the sink and soak him…_ she thought threateningly. Earl kicked his foot around with a feeling of discomfort, he then cleared his throat.

"Nice work taking out Blaskovitz, though a side attack would have been a better move."

Chiya got a look of thrill as she continued stripping down, "I know! I wish I would have side attacked him; as soon as I took him out, I had an adrenaline…"

Earl nodded his head and grinned, "Physically you don't stand a chance against Blaskovitz, but in an F-Zero machine you're just as powerful as him-if not more."

"Exactly what I was thinking! I think I might actually be better than Blaskovitz, maybe I can kill him on the track-all that'd be left is Dark Rose and Excalibur."

Earl chuckled, "Excalibur, that guy's not powerful-just well equipped."

"So-o he _is_ a good looking guy though? Cause he held me down and kissed my cheek, wanna' make sure he's not some disgusting wanker…"

Earl smirked and nodded, "Yeah, he's a good looking guy."

"I wanna' improve on Seoli Idong incase I ever confront him again."

Earl tapped his foot impatiently, "Can I turn around yet?"

"Hold your engine, I don't even have my shorts on yet…"

Earl bit his lip and rolled his eyes, "See, this is why I'm such a cool person, someone like Jason Knox would have just turned around by now."

Chiya growled at him, "Don't bring up that rubbish…"

"Come to think of it, did you damage your machine at all?"

"No, I don't think so at least, though I probably scraped the paint while pushing against the Blood Hawk."

Earl moved his hand back and gave her a thumbs up, "You had that guy pinned pretty well."

"With the help of Captain Falcon, I'm hoping I gained some respect for aiding him."

Earl walked up to the sink and grabbed both cups of coffee off of the counter, he then stepped back again and held the coffee out behind him, "Made coffee."

"Hold on a sec'…" Earl took a sip out of his cup and licked his lips, Chiya then stomped her foot down loudly, "Okay, ready."

Earl spun around and took a look at her, initially impressed with her appearance, "Huh, wow!"

She grabbed the cup of coffee out of his hand and posed somewhat, she was now wearing a shiny white shirt with a green _twenty-six_ on the front and back. She had black shorts, somewhat long white socks, and a pair of white and black tennis shoes on.

"Very hot, Chiya."

"Thank you."

Earl had a surprised grin on his face as he continued looking her over, "Considering you were seventeen when you last played, you fit perfectly in that."

"I was just as surprised-the shorts feel a little tight though," she puckered her lips and spun around, "Do they look tight?"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Uh, no-they don't."

Chiya turned back around and bowed, "My coach said I was only an intermediate player at the best, but I had a quality that kept me on the team every year."

"I'm going to guess it was your cheery attitude."

"Close, it was my high spirits and lack of fatigue-I never gave up, there was never a reason to in my eyes," Earl got a grin at her reasoning and nodded in agreement, she brushed her hair aside with a look of guilt, "If only I wasn't so clumsy when I played, they may have considered me for our national team…"

"Being an F-Zero pilot is a much bigger accomplishment, and you can still represent Mysteria as a racer."

Chiya swatted her hands down, "I would like to race for Mysteria-but not the Queen."

Earl grinned, "Hey, now that's a good t-"

Seppuku then interrupted the two by kicking open the door, "You two, we're-" he then grunted as he looked at Chiya, "Flower! Put some different shorts on, that's so tight that your asscrack is showing."

Chiya let out a panicked gasp and grabbed her rear, then angrily turned towards Earl, "Earl! You lied to m-"

"Well gee, what was I suppose to say!?"

Chiya wiggled her fingers around with puckered lips, "Hey Chiya, your ass is showing!"

Earl chuckled at her and shook his head, then looked up at Seppuku, "What is it Seppuku?"

Seppuku crossed his arms at the two and nodded, "It's Silver Neelson's birthday, I invited him to a restaurant to celebrate-especially since he just got first place last race."

Chiya and Earl both groaned, Earl shook his head at him, "Why do we care? Why do _you_ care?"

Seppuku growled at him, "Neelson's an old man and a good racer; along with that he's been one of my friends for years-so we're going."

Chiya grunted and looked at Earl, "I feel uncomfortable around old people…"

Seppuku hostilely poked her chin, "You might learn a thing or two from this wise man, so I expect you to come of all people."

Earl grinned, "So I don't have to go then?"

Seppuku looked down at Chiya, she shook her head negatively, "I'm not going if he's not going."

Seppuku began to tremble and growl furiously at the two.

A few minutes later, Seppuku was driving Earl's normal vehicle-as it had four seats. The sound of Chiya and Earl both grunting constantly could be heard in the back, Seppuku merely chuckled as he drove.

"Seppuku! This is unacceptable!" yelled Earl.

"Should have just agreed to come, then you wouldn't be in this mess-would you?"

Earl and Chiya were tied together back-to-back by Seppuku, Chiya had a look of discontent and a blazing red face of embarassment as she lay on her chest. Earl was yanking on the rope, trying to break free from it desperately.

"Ou-uch! Earl, don't pull on that, it keeps pushing against my belly."

Earl growled, "Dammit Seppuku, we're adults! You can't just tie us together like two siblings!" he barked loudly.

"I was going to cut you free once we got to the Upper City, but I'm finding this kind of funny now," he replied while laughing.

Earl continued to growl at him furiously, Chiya continued to whimper, "I don't like this, our rears are touching!"

Earl shut his eyes and blushed, "Chi- Chiya, shut up!"

The three eventually made it to a fairly large establishment, Seppuku had pulled Chiya and Earl out of the back and got them up on their feet. The two stood patiently for Seppuku to cut them free, but he then began to chuckle. Earl sighed and shook his head negatively.

"You're not gonna' let us go, are you?"

Seppuku smirked at the two, "How about once we get inside, follow me."

Earl growled and slowly began moving forward, Seppuku was finding humor in their struggle to walk-as both needed to move their legs in the correct sequence. Earl looked at the street to his left and grunted, he shot an angry look at Seppuku.

"Hey come on, people are looking at us!"

Seppuku shrugged at him as he waited near the door for the two, Earl grinded his teeth as they walked forward. Chiya began to laugh playfully, leaving Earl somewhat disturbed.

"What?"

She continued to laugh as she turned her head towards Earl, "This is kind of fun!"

"You say fun, I say awkward…"

Chiya was still in her soccer uniform since Seppuku had abruptly grabbed them on the spot. She was still laughing as they struggled to reach the door, Earl was only becoming aggravated at this-yet he was glad that Chiya found some entertainment from this. Seppuku stopped chuckling and walked over to the two with his claymore sword out.

"Alright, this is getting weird…" he said as he slashed the rope apart.

Earl immediately broke away from Chiya and exhaled in relief, Chiya remained still and brushed her back off. Seppuku walked towards the door to the restaurant silently, Earl followed him closely with an offended look.

"Let's get this over with, there's a movie coming on in a few hours I wanna' catch…"

Chiya puckered her lips, "What is it? Can I watch?"

Earl shrugged as they walked, "Sure, it's a movie about the navy."

A few minutes later, the three were at a table with Silver Neelson. He was a very old man with a long silver beard, he was very frail-trembling as he sat on his chair. Chiya was remaining silent, as she was somewhat shy of a person, Earl had a look of general disinterest, Seppuku had a grin as the four conversed.

"So is this the year you think you'll win the billion?" asked Seppuku.

Silver slammed his fist on the table, startling everyone but Seppuku, "Of course I won't! You kids are all the same, it's not about the race, it's about the destruction and rivalry!"

Chiya licked her lips and looked at him nervously, "So-o, you've never had a rival then?"

"Course I haven't, I focus on the race, not the war-and look how easy it was for me to win!"

Chiya placed her finger on her lip and thought about this, it was true that Silver Neelson remained in first the entire race without changing positions a single time. Silver pointed at Seppuku with a bitter look.

"Why didn't you try and beat me? You went ahead and killed that fella' yesterday! What about the race?"

Seppuku grinned at him, "Shut up old fool…"

Chiya's eyebrows were twitching at Seppuku in response, _That's not something you say to a friend…_ Silver looked over at Chiya momentarily and grinned, "I must admit though, you stayed on me for quite a while, so you must be doing something right, for a new racer."

Chiya smiled at him, "I didn't even remember who Silver Neelson was, I assumed you were some hot man with big muscles when I was behind you."

Earl smirked at her and put his arm on the table, "I don't like to boast, but I-"

"Maybe back in the day, but now I'm practically on my death bed-this old man's life is over."

Seppuku shook his head defiantly, "Nah, you've got a good few years left of racing, old man."

"I can't wait to be free from this ruined sport, aint' been the same since Professor Stewart died, I'm one of the last clean racers on the track-the rest are just brutal killers."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "What was old F-Zero like?"

"Better, and the committee wasn't nearly as selfish-letting terrorists like Blood Falcon compete is an example of the extreme greed they have."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "But doesn't it bring drama into the races?"

"Drama? Why dun' we all just put on little skirts while we drive?"

The three began to laugh at his joke, Earl looked up at him with a grin, "Where do you get your machine fixed up?"

"I fix it, but I don't need to fix it because I'm a clean driver!" he spat back.

Earl nodded at him, "I see."

Silver sat back in his chair and exhaled, "I 'member back during a race when I was just about to finish against Black Shedow-"

"Black Shadow," Chiya corrected.

"That's what I said! Black Shedow!" he shouted back at her. She nodded at him and began to chuckle with Earl, the two were finding him fairly senile. "Anyways, I was about to finish the race alongside Black Shedow, and he decided that he would try rammin' me…"

He smirked as he tried to think, "The old fool completely missed me and crashed straight into Ninja Garah…"

Earl slammed his head down on the table and began to laugh, Chiya was laughing as well-but not as obnoxiously as Earl, _Ninja Garah…_ she thought finding this mistake hilarious.

"The two machines both flipped over and were retired, and after the race ya' know what I did to Black Shedow?" he asked as he looked at Chiya. Chiya nodded at him with a smile, "I look at em' and I-"

The three waited for him to finish, Earl still chuckling somewhat at the _Ninja Garah_ mistake. Chiya remained still as he stared into her eyes, but he wouldn't complete the story. Seppuku momentarily lost his grin and raised an eyebrow at Silver, he remained sitting completely still-his eyes were quivering at Chiya constantly. Chiya brushed her hair aside and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You did what to him?"

Silver still didn't respond, Chiya then noticed that his eyes stopped quivering-they were now still. Silver then fell forward into Chiya's chest, everyone immediately gasped-Chiya began to panic and grabbed his shoulders quickly.

"What the Hell!?" she panicked as she pushed his head away from her breasts.

"Silver!" Seppuku shouted.

Earl immediately got up and came around the table towards Chiya and Silver, Chiya was completely frightened as she held a seemingly lifeless Silver. Earl immediately grabbed his wrist and searched for a pulse-he immediately exhaled in relief.

"He has a pulse…"

Seppuku nodded pointed at Chiya, "Give him CPR."

Chiya widened her eyes and shook his head, "No wa- I don't know how to do that…" Seppuku then turned his head towards Earl and raised an eyebrow, but Earl gasped before he could respond.

"Uh oh, oh no…" Earl muttered as he pressed on his wrist.

Within moments, several people were starting to surround the four-the manager came running down the isle of people moments after.

Chiya looked at Earl with a frightened look, Earl gritted his teeth as he continued pressing down on Silver's wrist, "Pulse is getting fainter, fainter, fainter…"

Seppuku gritted his teeth and held his chin nervously as he watched Earl; Earl momentarily licked his lips and looked at the people surrounding them, then at Chiya-who had a sad look on her face. Earl bit his lip and rubbed his forehead with the other hand, then exhaled as he stood back up.

"He's gone…"

A day later, Earl and Chiya stood in very dark attire outside of Mute City. They were out in the grassland with several other people-only they were in a privatized area. Chiya was wearing a black dress with a short skirt, she had darkened stockings going up her legs. Earl was wearing a black suit with a white shirt underneath-he picked out a bad sized dress shirt, as the collar was chafing his neck. The sky was fairly gloomy along with a fairly strong wind. Chiya looked over at all of the people sitting in chairs in dark clothing, Chiya and Earl were in a reserved area for personal friends of Silver Neelson-this was his funeral. Chiya stood perfectly still, her skirt and sleeves were the only thing blowing in the air-yet her hair was remaining still. She stood still with a doleful look, having only just met Silver Neelson for the first time-now he was dead. Unlike Chiya, Earl was more concerned about his chafed neck, constantly tugging on his collar with great discomfort.

"They couldn't have held this funeral off for a few more days, then I could've just ordered something my size…" complained Earl.

Chiya disregarded his complaint and remained still with a sad look, "It's so sad, he had such a good start to the Grand Prix…"

Earl quirked his mouth as he looked over at the coffin, "Try to look at this more brightly-now you're technically in fourth place, he died so _you_ could get a better start."

Chiya bit her lip sadly and shook her head negatively, "I wish I could see it like that, but a famed racer died, I can't think about myself…"

"You know what's weird, that was his one-hundredth birthday," Chiya widened her eyes in amazement, _Wonder if I'll go on to be a hundred…_ "He was around before the United Powers formed, that's incredible."

"What nation was he born in then?"

Earl tugged on his collar again as he thought, "Well, he must've been born around the time that the continents all became nations-so either the nation of Europe or America."

Chiya had a faint smile, "I wanna' visit the American continent one day…"

"The Northern or Southern part?"

"Northern, I guess…"

Earl laughed silently, "Just don't come back a big hockey fan, eh'?"

Chiya and Earl both gasped as Seppuku came walking down towards the stand, prepared to make a speech. Earl gritted his teeth and sighed, "This can't be good…"

Chiya's eyes were quivering as Seppuku approached the stand that was behind the coffin. _Please act normal Seppuku…_ she begged to herself.

Seppuku grabbed the microphone and slammed his hand down obnoxiously on the stand, "What's up? I'm going to speak about my good friend, Silver Neelson…"

Chiya swished her hand at Earl, "Sounds like we're good, unless he starts acting inappropriate."

Seppuku cleared his throat, "Let's set the record, not only was Silver a damn good racer, but he was a badass too!"

Chiya and Earl both sighed, "I guess he doesn't regard the children that are here…"

"He knew how to knock the crap out of competitions and races, but only when he felt like it," several people began walking their children away from the seats, some were just covering their ears, "Now, he was a guy tougher than nails, he could kick any one of your asses in a fight-but not mine, I'd kick his ass."

"Oh my God…" Chiya muttered while holding her face in embarrassment.

Seppuku pointed up at Chiya and Earl, "Those are my two companions, Silver could have beat the crap out of them if he wanted-because that's just how he rolled…"

"Lieutenant!" yelled Jody Summer as she stood up from the crowd.

Seppuku raised the microphone up to his mouth, "Look, a bat!"

Earl sighed, "He-ere comes the smack down…."

Seppuku and Jody both walked towards each other angrily-an obvious rivalry visible between the two. Seppuku raised the microphone up to his mouth again as he approached her.

"Here we have the typical Federation, here to crash yet another funeral…"

Jody growled at him, "You did this at that last funeral, what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! I'm just speaking about my old friend!"

The crowd of people were all focusing on the two, Chiya continued to shake her head in disbelief, _This isn't happening…_ Jody came up to Seppuku and jabbed him with her finger, "There are actual hurt people here, you're just provoking everyone with your vulgarity!"

"And you're bothering everyone with your obnoxiously loud voice!"

Jody narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm not the one yelling into the microphone…"

"Your interruption of my speech is yet another example of Federation aggression towards the public, just like your lack of protection to my poor accomplice…" he said pointing at Chiya.

Chiya widened her eyes and was prepared to duck down, but it was too late-everyone was staring at her. Jody grunted nervously, Seppuku then got a grin and walked away from her with the microphone, "Chiya Flower was contained like an animal for about an hour, forced to go through a series of lethal cuts from a razor knife-she still hasn't recovered fully."

The crowd began to converse amongst each other in horror, Jody began to panic and looked around at all of the people already siding with Seppuku.

"The Federation didn't save her, we saved her-afterwards, all the Federation did was make empty promises to the public that they were doing all they could to stop Black Shadow, Chiya wasn't even compensated for her bravery-she chose the torture over revealing my location to Black Shadow, she likely kept Black Shadow from attacking Mute City..."

People began to shout and say things in agreement, Jody dropped her arms and gasped. Chiya rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Isn't this suppose to be a funeral?"

"Well, I did something, didn't I? I destroyed Blood Falcon, and Chiya nearly killed Brock Blaskovitz, that's more progress than the Federation has made in years!"

Jody finally grabbed Seppuku's arm angrily, "Just shut up and we can continue this discussion in privacy!"

Seppuku looked over at all of the enraged citizens-all siding with Seppuku greatly. He then looked back at Jody with a smirk, "It's a date."

The two then walked away together, Seppuku dropped the microphone on the ground as they walked. Earl tugged on his collar and looked back at Chiya, "Well, just like that-you're gonna' be all over the news again.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and continued to stare at Seppuku as he departed with Jody, she was wondering what more Seppuku could possibly want from Jody at this point-he had already blackmailed her for money. She bit her lip and looked back at the coffin, suddenly angered at both Seppuku and Jody for being rude.

"If you ask me, both Seppuku and Jody are criminals…"

To be continued…


	26. Lap 25

==Lap 25=

Chiya was alone in the bank of Mute City, there were massive amounts of people in the bank with her. It was a bright and sunny day in Mute City, and though it was nice looking outside, it was in all actuality a very cold day. The bank was typically in the Upper City and was one of the busiest places in the entire city. Chiya had set up a bank account years ago, though up until the point where she met Earl and Seppuku-she had rarely used it, as she was originally a bum.

Many people were groaning and tapping their feet impatiently as they waited behind Chiya, she was up in the front arguing with the female receptionist.

"I know for a fact, that I had fifty credits wired to me by a Bart Lemming a week or two ago…" she said with an angry look.

The receptionist checked her computer and nodded, "Yes, you received such money previously, but the money was taken out."

Chiya flailed her arms angrily, "I did not!"

The receptionist licked her lips nervously and continued going through the webpage, "There is a special note listed on the withdrawal, do you want me to read it for you?"

Chiya stomped her foot down, "Yes! Where's my money?" she demanded.

"Hurry up! I need to pick up my kid!"

Chiya turned around and growled, "Keep your knickers on!"

The receptionist cleared her throat, "It claims that you didn't pay your taxes on time, so the government took it out by force."

Chiya gasped and growled, "What taxes!?"

"I can't tell you-you'd need to go ask them yourself."

Chiya held her face and sighed, "Bloody Hell…"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are now ten credits under, you need to have at least thirty credits in your account by next Friday, or we'll have to shut it down."

Chiya groaned loudly in frustration, the receptionist raised an eyebrow at her, "I- I apologize, really." Chiya gave her a calm look and exhaled, "Forgive me for asking, but if you're an F-Zero racer, I would imagine you have a well paying job?"

Chiya shook her head and turned around, "These are tough times, even for an F-Zero racer…"

She then walked past the massive line of people angrily, Chiya knew she could get the money to keep her bank account up-but she felt ashamed of herself as she would likely end up asking Earl for a handout. _I'm sure he's gonna' get pissed at me…_ she thought as she approached a bench in the bank. She collapsed onto the bench and held her head with a sour look on her face, she looked at her hands and quirked her mouth. _If I start taking out loans, I'll end up in debt, once I can't pay back the debt, I'll have to file for bankruptcy-then I'm in real trouble…_ She sighed and decided that she would do the more shameful and humiliating way out of the predicament-asking Earl for a handout.

"I hate money…" she hissed silently.

She remained still on the bench for a few moments before letting out a heavy sigh, life truly was still bad for her-Earl and Seppuku were just covering her up; if they were to disappear, Chiya knew that she would lose everything again. Her only chance would be if she could continue racing without damaging her machine, as no one would be there to repair it for her-and she certainly didn't have the money for this. She shook her head defiantly and smiled, _It's okay, no one is gonna' die…_ She was then startled as a young man leapt onto the bench next to her with an eager look.

"Hey there!"

Chiya grunted nervously in response-he couldn't have been any old than nineteen. Chiya simply blinked at him a few times with a surprised look, she then put her hands together above her waist and nodded.

"Hello."

The young man grinned at her, automatically installing some fear into Chiya, _O-oh God…_ she thought assuming that she was going to be hit on.

"You're an F-Zero racer, aren't you?"

Chiya widened her eyes, then got a radiant look of joy, "Yes, I am! Chiya Flower and the Purring Kitten."

"You were the one who helped kill Blood Falcon."

Chiya broke her smile and looked away, "This may sound crazy, but I wouldn't presume that he's dead yet…"

"He dove into the lava, sounds pretty dead to me."

Chiya nodded in agreement, then lowered her eyebrows, "My boss-the one who knocked him in, claims that he's probably alive."

Chiya gasped as she suddenly found an opened notebook fly under her chin, she looked down at it-then at him, he was waving it around under her chin, "Autograph?"

Chiya got a look of shock on her face, "Fr- from me!?"

"Sure, best get it before you become really famous."

Chiya began to panic and looked around constantly, "Oh my Gosh, I- I don't have a pen!"

He then handed her a pencil, she looked down at the paper with a look of amazement, _How do I sign an autograph? It must have to be in cursive…_ Before she could begin writing, her eyes caught something else that had just passed by her. She felt as if her ears jolted straight as she caught a familiar glimpse of someone's green pants and black boots. She looked up slightly and widened her eyes-Excalibur was in the bank. She gasped, then looked back at the young man who was still waiting for the autograph. She lowered her eyebrows and began sketching out her name carefully, she continuously looked up to see what Excalibur was doing; he was at a banking terminal with some device in his hand. She was shading her signature very stylishly, this is what was killing so much time. She looked up again and found that he had inserted the device into the terminal, now punching numbers onto the screen. She quickly finished her name, then concluded the autograph with a flower, rather than a period.

"Slick signature."

Chiya nodded with a dazed look, she was still staring at Excalibur as he began to extract from the terminal. "Yeah, if a signature doesn't have that flower, then it isn't a real Chiya Flower autograph."

A silent buzzer began to go off as Excalibur got near the door, Chiya widened her eyes as he simply continued past the security gate.

"Hey! Stop!" an officer yelled trying to pursue him.

Chiya handed him the notebook and launched herself up, "I'm sorry, but I need to go!" she said running off instantly.

The young man simply watched as Chiya sprinted towards the door, her hand on her waist where here gun was usually holstered.

Chiya came running out with three police officers, but Excalibur had already leaped into a glossy black vehicle with a thick red stripe going down the center. The machine almost had the appearance of the _Blood Hawk_. The officers all pulled out their handguns, including Chiya-who they didn't seem to regard.

"Stop!" an officer yelled.

The machine spun around and darted out of the area at a very quick speed. The officer stomped his foot down, "A-ah Hell, he has an F-Zero machine-he's as good as gone."

Chiya lowered her handgun and approached him, "What did he do?"

"Stole about ten-thousand credits out of the national bank of Japan, but we certainly can't catch an F-Zero machine…"

Chiya shook her head and began running towards the _Purring Kitten_-determined to stop him.

Within a few moments, she found herself pursuing the dark F-Zero machine down the main street of the Upper City. Chiya could see the flashing of police lights behind her-but she didn't slow down, she could both outrun the police, and she was trying to help them. Many vehicles began to pull off to the right as Excalibur and Chiya went down the street at an incredible speed. Chiya held onto the steering wheel tightly as she put up the maximum speed, within seconds Chiya would be the only one able to keep up with him. Chiya gritted her teeth and put her handgun on her lap as she sped down the road, prepared to fire on him as soon as possible.

"You're not getting away this time!" Chiya challenged aloud.

She found that she was gaining track on Excalibur, but was still very far away from him-he was already leaving the city, while she had only just passed Bart's café. She turned on her machine's bright lights in hopes that pedestrians would see her coming from afar. Chiya then opened up a panel on her wheel and smirked nervously-she was about to use boost power inside of a busy area.

"Watch out!" she said aloud as she began to boost up the street.

Several people began to panic at the sight and sound of the _Purring Kitten_ boosting up the busy street. She was quickly catching up to Excalibur, but he began to pull off to the side of the road and began driving down a field. Chiya grunted in confusion, but prepared to follow him right off the main road. They were going towards Red Canyon, but Excalibur seemed to be going elsewhere-Chiya could no longer see him because of the buildings that were in the way.

"Shoot!" she yelled as she lost sight of him.

She continued to drive down the road none-the-less, assuming that he couldn't have disappeared already. She made a fateful decision by boosting one more time, desperate to stop Excalibur and return the stolen money. She was assuming that he wired the money onto some data device illegally, as he was at a terminal when he supposedly stole the money. Chiya quickly drove off the road and could still see a dust trail from his vehicle-to her luck, his vehicle was still visible just up ahead. She widened her eyes at the sight of a landed black ship that looked strikingly similar to the _Falcon Flyer_-only this ship was black and had the appearance of a raven rather than a falcon.

Excalibur drove his machine up the back of his ship quickly and sprinted back out, he closed the loading bay and began running towards the door to the cockpit. Just before he could enter the ship, he was confronted by the _Purring Kitten_, which had just done a power slide right in front of him. Excalibur snapped his fingers and immediately pulled out a device and held it up towards her. Chiya opened her cockpit and aimed the handgun at him.

"Hand over the money!"

Excalibur shook his head negatively, "Not happening, Black Shadow was very clear on my deadline-emphasis on _dead_line."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him and trained her handgun on his face, "I'll shoot!"

"Won't work, I have a shield right here."

She growled at him, "All I see is a little metal object in your hand…"

"It's one of Black Shadow's toys, you'll find that bullets are quite ineffective while I have this out."

Chiya accepted the challenge and fired three times at him, the bullets were instantly knocked down by an invisible energy-like shield emitting from the device. Chiya gritted her teeth and lowered the handgun, "I see."

She whipped her hair angrily and put her feet down firmly, "Whatever! I have two hands!"

Excalibur simply nodded and curved his fingers, preparing for the destined rematch between the two. Chiya stood in attack position, but just like with Earl-was having a problem reading his mind, his helmet made it impossible to tell if he was fearful, confident, or devious.

"What part of Korea do you come from?"

"Pyongyang region."

Chiya nodded with narrowed eyes, "So you're pure Korean, I'm fro-"

"Mysteria."

Chiya flashed open her eyes in shock, then smirked at him, "That's right."

The sight of police vehicles could be seen far off in the distance, Excalibur shook his fist at her, "Let's hurry this up, or I'll be forced to kill."

Chiya nodded and leaped at him quickly, he simply moved aside swiftly and let her land in front of him. She quickly spun around and grabbed his hand before he could strike her, he had kicked her arm quickly and leaped back. Chiya brushed her arm off on her waist and licked her lips, _I probably shouldn't leap or jump, keep my feet firmly on the ground…_ he quickly ran up to her and jumped onto her shoulders, Chiya gritted her teeth at the rough landing on her-yet she managed to grab both of his legs before he completed the stunt. She threw him onto the ground and then proceeded to leap onto the ground and beat her elbow into his chest. She ended up shouting somewhat as she found that he had a strong chest, leaving her elbow in pain. He took advantage of the moment and twisted his legs around hers, then managed to roll on top of her. Chiya once again found herself struggling to break free-and just like that, she was completely pinned to the ground again.

Chiya grunted at him constantly, "If you kiss my cheek again, so help me, I'll be so-o mad!"

Excalibur grabbed her handgun out of her shorts and took out the clip, pushing out the remaining four bullets. Chiya grinded her teeth nervously, then found that he placed the handgun into her hand-now empty. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at her head as he stood up.

"That's the second time I've pinned you, have Bendek teach you how to break free before you try being a hero."

Chiya gasped and got on her rear, "Wha- what?"

He then began walking up the ramp of his ship and held the door, "You can take me down, but you don't know how to defend yourself-get better at it."

Chiya shook her head angrily, "Hey wait! Give back the money!"

He then closed the door, and almost immediately the ship began to raise into the air. Chiya growled loudly and picked one of the bullets off of the ground, she loaded it into her gun and fired at the ship-but to no avail. She gritted her teeth as the ship momentarily flew away from the area, it was gone within seconds. Chiya stood up and stomped her foot down angrily as the police had just made it to the area.

"Damn you!" she yelled into the air.

Later in the evening, Chiya had returned from the police station, now safely back in Seppuku's base. She had been questioned but was ultimately let off the hook by Jody Summer, Chiya was somewhat surprised that Jody would vouch for her considering the misery Seppuku puts Jody through. Chiya had just got done explaining her day to Seppuku in his office, she was now calmed down and simply wanted to speak with Earl about how to avoid being pinned, and ask for a few credits for her bank account-which she was ashamed of doing.

He's going to get pissed at me when I ask for a handout, but I know it's the smart thing to do, I'd never be able to pay off a loan…

she thought somewhat sadly. Chiya looked at his room and widened her eyes somewhat, she wasn't sure which topic she would bring up first with Earl-the money, or Excalibur. She came to a stop near his door with a surprised look, she could hear grunting coming from behind the door-she immediately assumed the worst. _Oh God, maybe I shouldn't just walk in…_ she thought nervously. She then narrowed her eyes and looked both ways of the hallway, curiosity was ultimately overcoming her. _Nah, Earl's not a sexual person…_ she thought as she grabbed the doorknob silently. She quietly opened the door and took a step inside, she immediately flashed her eyes open in shock-he was working out on a weightlifting bench shirtless.

Chiya widened her eyes at him and merely stood still watching him, _I didn't know he actually used that thing…_ Earl hadn't noticed her walk in since he was on his back, she was standing next to the door simply staring at him in awe. She then got a surprised look and gritted her teeth at the sight of Earl's arms. _Oh my God, he's so muscular, how have I never seen this before?_ She then hesitantly moved her eyes down at his chest and began to tremble somewhat, _Wo-ow!_ she then found herself biting on her finger. She swallowed and shook her head negatively, _Earl's kind of- kind of good looking when he works out…_ She was still biting on her finger, now beginning to blush as she continued to watch, _Oh my God, what am I doing..?_ Chiya found herself completely sidetracked, suddenly obsessing over Earl's muscles. Her legs now began to shake as she bit her finger with a red face, _I wonder what he'd do if I went and poured cold water all over his ch-_ she then widened her eyes and gasped loudly-she quickly crossed her legs together with a frightened look, _Oh my!_

Earl heard the gasp and looked up, he appeared somewhat startled to see her standing by his door watching him, "Oh geese, sorry!"

Chiya kept her legs crossed and continued to bite her finger, she nodded her head constantly at him. He put the lift back on the bench and stood up, he wiped the back of his neck with a white towel and approached her.

"I am truly sorry Chiya, before you first joined the organization, I used to do daily lifting-but I didn't want to creep you out when you joined, being a girl and all…"

Chiya took her finger out of her mouth and dipped her head while exhaling, "No worries."

Earl chuckled and wiped his forehead, "I'll push this thing back in the closet then-"

"No!" she shouted somewhat franticly, Earl raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, she then let out a fake looking smile, "It's awesome that yo- I mean it's good to work out, I'm cool with you doing that!"

She lowered her eyebrows immediately after, _Where the Bloody Hell did that come from!?_ she thought feeling stupid. Chiya still had her legs crossed and was shaking somewhat, she licked her lips as she waited for a response.

"Well, great then-I wouldn't mind getting muscles like Captain Falcon."

Chiya let out a disturbing giggle at this, her eyebrows twitching at this, _What the Hell's wrong with me?_

"You'd look great!" she said giving a thumbs up, she then gasped and shook her head with a look of discontent, "Anyway-"

"Ah, so I had a surprise for you," Chiya blinked a few times at him and nodded, "Seppuku agreed to go bowling in a bit, I assume you'd like to come."

Chiya got a gleeful smile and nodded, "Ye- yes! I love to do bowling!" she put her finger on her lip, _-or, was it I love to bowl?_

Earl grinned at her, "Fantastic, this'll be a lot more fun than some stupid movie."

Chiya looked down at his chest again and widened her eyes, she bit her lip and closed her eyes, "Wh- when do we go?"

"Any time, just let me get a shirt on first."

Chiya fake laughed with wide eyes, "What, you don't want to show off that magnifi-" she stopped herself quickly and sighed, "I'll be in the garage…"

The three later found themselves in the Mute City bowling alley, Earl and Seppuku proceeded down a few steps while Chiya simply stood still in complete awe. She didn't expect the building to be so large and flashy, she looked down at Seppuku and Earl and quickly followed them with a smile. Seppuku sat down at a table with a computer and began punching things into it, Earl sat on the other side of the table and grinned at Chiya.

"See why I like this place so much?"

Chiya nodded affirmatively as she looked around at the other lanes, though she was excited to be having a friends night out, she had a somewhat nervous look on her face. Seppuku looked at Earl and raised an eyebrow.

"Name?"

Earl rubbed his chin and thought carefully, "Slickshot."

Seppuku entered _Slickshot_ as a name, Chiya immediately rubbed her head in confusion, "Wait, what? That's not your name…"

Earl smirked at her, "Exactly, it's fun."

Seppuku entered _Darkmatter_ as a name and looked over at Chiya, she held her chin and hummed in confusion. Seppuku then shrugged and looked back at the computer, then typed a name for her. Earl looked up at the screen and saw that he typed in _Whinesalot._ Earl looked back down at Seppuku angrily and growled.

"Whi-inesalot? What's that mean?" asked Chiya.

"Never mind that, I'm starting," said Earl.

Earl approached the lane and picked up a ball, Chiya looked over at him nervously-observing him closely. Earl quickly threw the ball, but it began to curve and only knocked down three pins.

"Damn."

Chiya nodded and walked up to the lane behind him, Earl then raised an eyebrow at her and pushed her away, "What're you doing? I still have another throw, and Seppuku goes next."

Chiya gasped silently and stepped back, "Oh, uh, I know!"

Earl nodded and grabbed the returning ball, once again moving up with the ball. Chiya squinted as Earl threw the ball-it knocked the other pins down and gave him a spare.

"Spare, alright then!"

Chiya nodded her head slightly, _I see…_

Seppuku stepped up and looked around for a ball, he momentarily spotted a black ball and picked it up. He smirked at Earl and Chiya, then moved up to the lane slowly-Chiya was assuming that he would knock all pins down without a problem. Seppuku somehow threw the ball at a very quick speed, the ball raced straight across and knocked every pin down in an instant. Chiya widened her eyes, Earl began to chuckle at Seppuku.

"Geese man, wish I could do that!" Seppuku nodded his head at Earl and sat back down, Earl then patted Chiya's back, "You can go now."

She widened her eyes and swallowed nervously, "Oh, okay."

She slowly approached the rack of balls and picked out a black one as well, she gritted her teeth and held the ball with her entire palm-carefully balancing it in her hand. Earl raised an eyebrow at her as she walked towards the lane, it was slowly becoming clear to him that something was wrong. Chiya continued walking up the lane, then took her hand off the top of the ball-uneasily holding it with one hand. She then walked right past the line she was suppose to throw it at. Earl stood up quickly as soon as he saw her cross the line.

"Uh, Chiya, you crossed the line!" he yelled over to her.

She widened her eyes and gasped, then took a few steps back, "Oh u-uh, the Mysterian bowlers alley didn't have lines…"

Earl smirked at her, "Well that's odd, all bowling alleys should have lines…"

Chiya slowly moved up to the line and stood there, she then uneasily lifted the ball up and ended up lobbing it up in the air-she nearly fell over doing this. She gasped and looked over at the lane as the ball roughly landed on the ground then went right into the gutter. Seppuku began to laugh obnoxiously at her failure, Earl punched his arm roughly and inched his finger at Chiya-requesting for her to come over.

"Oh no! I didn't mean to do that! How much do I have to pay for that ball!?" she asked franticly.

Earl and Seppuku both looked at her surprised and confused, Earl shook his head at her, "Huh?" she had a very sad and frightened look on her face, Earl bit his lip and quirked at her, "Did you have your fingers in the three holes?"

Chiya tilted her head slightly, "Three ho..? uh, I forgot…" Earl slowly nodded at her, she then smiled innocently at her, "Don't worry, I won't get anymore strikes."

Seppuku slammed his fist down on the table, "What the Hell are y-"

Earl grabbed his arm and looked back up at Chiya, he was about to respond, but he had just figured out what was wrong with Chiya. He remained silent and looked into her scared eyes-she had no idea what she was doing, rather she just wanted to be with her two only friends like on movie night. Earl didn't want to exclude Chiya from yet another friends night, so he bit his lip and nodded at her.

"Silly me, I forgot to turn on the bumpers-I'm such an idiot…"

Seppuku grunted at him and slowly turned his head, "What? Bumper Bowling, are yo-"

Earl punched his arm and pressed a button on the computer, immediately raising bumpers along the gutters.

"There, my mistake Chiya…"

She nodded at him and turned back around, moving back to the lane hesitantly. Seppuku slowly turned his head at Earl and sighed, "See? Once again, she's ruining a good time."

"Shut up Seppuku, this was suppose to be her reward for becoming an F-Zero racer anyways…"

"Yeah, but Bumper Bowling? What are we seven?"

Earl shook his head negatively as he stood up, "We're adults, but she doesn't have to know the difference…"

Chiya struggled to find the holes on the ball, she momentarily found them and began putting her fingers in them securely. She gritted her teeth as she tried a few fingers, Earl momentarily came up behind her and grabbed her hand.

"These three fingers," he said as he grabbed the correct fingers for her.

She dipped her head down and looked away from him, "Yes, I know that…"

Earl smirked at her, "Yes, I'm sure you do know that."

She got in a position to throw the ball again, but was clearly about to lob it up in the air again. Earl sighed and grabbed her hand again, "No, no, there's like a one in six chance you'd hit anything doing that."

Chiya sighed and looked at him sadly, "Help me, please?" she asked silently.

Earl smiled at her, "There you go, now we can make actual progress…"

Earl then continued to teach Chiya how to bowl, Seppuku watched angrily as the night was quickly being centered on Chiya yet again. Earl was at this point just letting her throw the ball every time, disregarding whoever's turn it really was. With Earl helping Chiya, she was at least managing to get the ball to the end of the lane-rather than straight to the gutter. Seppuku tapped his finger on his cheek constantly, wondering if it even paid to stay at the alley-it was now abundantly clear to him that Chiya never bowled before.

"Oh God…" a voice rang from behind him.

Seppuku turned his head and grinned after seeing who was behind him. Jody Summer, Dr. Stewart, and Dr. Clash were all standing behind him-intending to bowl as well.

"Well, well, well…" Seppuku said playfully.

"Lieutenant, I didn't know you still bowled."

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Of course I do, I haven't seen the Federation win a gold trophy since I left the team-wonder why…"

Jody narrowed her eyes at him, "Whatever, we don't enter competitions anymore anyways…"

"Because you lost your secret weapon."

Jody growled at him, then looked over at Earl and Chiya, "What's going on over there?"

Seppuku swished his hand at the two, "Just a stupid game of loveball, I was about to leave actually…"

"Thank God, because we rented the alley right next to you."

Seppuku stood up and shook his fist at her, "You wanna' play Summer?" he shouted loudly.

Earl and Chiya both turned around, Chiya grunted and dipped her head down, "Oh for the love of God…"

Earl took the ball out of Chiya's hand and set it down, momentarily walking with her back to the group. Jody let out a laugh, then poked his throat.

"Sure, I have my two friends here, three on three?"

Seppuku smirked at her, "Damn ri-" he then snapped his fingers as he looked back at Chiya, "Unfortunately Chiya would only play babyball…"

Earl growled at him as Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly, "What's babyball?"

Earl scratched the back of his head and sighed, "Okay, so I might have lied a little, no one uses bumpers in their games…"

Chiya gasped and growled at him with a slight grin, "Thank you for making me look stupid…"

"How about just Stewart and me, against you and Earl."

Seppuku grabbed her hand forcibly and shook, "Game on."

Chiya sighed and sat down, "Alright, what can I do?"

Seppuku pushed a chair closer to the lane, "Just watch, it'll help you learn."

Chiya slowly looked at Earl, but he seemed to nod in agreement. Chiya ultimately sided with the two and sat down.

"Alright, Team Superior, versus Team Bad Cops," said Seppuku.

Jody brushed off the offensive joke and crossed her arms, "Let's just see how good you still are, old man."

Seppuku growled at her, "Fine with me, crazy bat."

The two teams had begun playing a few minutes later and Chiya remained still in her seat, watching the two teams hostilely go at each other in bowling. Earl had thrown off his brown leather coat and was in his white T-shirt to improve his throwing. Earl went up to the line with the ball and made a mighty throw towards the center-but Chiya wasn't looking at the ball. She had a dreamy look on her face as she stared at his arm, this time she didn't have a romantic attraction to Earl-rather she was somewhat interested in his upper body out of nowhere. She knew that the weightlifting she saw earlier was now going to present her with a few new problems…

"Strike for the good guys!" Earl yelled while flailing his arm up in the air.

To be continued…


	27. Lap 26

==Lap 26=

Chiya was hanging around Earl's room yet again the following afternoon, it could easily be established that the garage was no longer their favorite place to hang out at. Chiya was sitting on his bed as Earl pranced back and forth talking, Chiya was simply doing whatever would kill time, as she was excited to get on with the second race of the Grand Prix. Chiya had learned a lot about the sport of bowling the past night, she had been concealing the fact that she knew nothing about bowling up until the point where Earl caught her-she continued to argue that she did know how to bowl, but eventually gave in and let him teach her. She then got to watch a full heated up rival match between Seppuku and Jody Summer; the results…

"Now, I did feel bad for beating Jody like that, cause I don't hate her nearly as much as Seppuku does."

Chiya wiggled her feet around playfully as she reminisced the game, "I think you guys just wore them out near the end, you guys kept getting so many of the strikes-that must have been frustrating."

Earl snapped his fingers at her, "I think you're absolutely right, fatigue played a huge role in that," he then smirked at her, "Losing to Seppuku must have been painful to her."

"Seppuku's been getting on her nerves a lot lately, I have a bad feeling she'll make us all pay soon enough…"

Earl nodded in agreement, "Just don't look at them the same way Seppuku does, the Federation may be lousy at times, but we _are_ on the same side as them."

Chiya puckered her lips, "Seppuku's not helping me secure an F-Zero alliance with the Federation…"

Earl clapped his hands together, "With Blood Falcon out of the way, who needs an alliance?"

"Well, we still have to worry about Blaskovitz, not to mention Dark Rose and Excalibur outside of the track."

Earl rubbed his chin and grinned, he then grabbed Chiya's hand and brought her out into the middle of his room, "So you need to know how to break free from a pin?"

Chiya quickly nodded, "Yes, he's done the same thing to me twice, it's annoying and shameful…"

Earl slowly began to lower her down to the ground, she widened her eyes but let him do this. She laid on her back and gritted her teeth nervously, _Oh geese, I just realized how awkward this is gonna' be…_ she thought as she looked up at Earl.

"Firstly, I assume you were struggling?"

"Duh!"

Earl waved his finger at her negatively, "No, struggling will only force him to keep you down with force."

Earl then got down on Chiya, she immediately began to tremble and blush, "Oh God, I uh, I- I don't-" she then gasped as Earl had pinned her down-only he did it perfectly, just like Excalibur, "This is exactly what he did to me, how did you know?"

Earl stared at her for a few moments, then smirked, "Because, Seoli Idong is taught to all Koreans, whatever he knows-I know just as good."

Chiya continued to grunt and was glancing away constantly, but she was trying not to struggle so the moment wouldn't be any more awkward. She exhaled and looked down at her chest for anyway to break free from the pin, but both arms and legs were down. She jerked her hand a few times in an attempt to break free-but to no avail.

"Come on Chiya, try rolling me over."

She shook her head in confusion, "How? I can't grab you or anything."

Earl smirked at her and raised an eyebrow, "Exert force, just send your body to its side-it'll either flip me over or break you free."

Chiya grinded her teeth and began thrusting her shoulders to her right constantly, she was making him budge somewhat. She still struggled to get herself free, not understanding how she could build up such strength.

"Come on Chiya, I'm a rapist and have you pinned," he role-played.

Chiya gasped and immediately launched herself right out of him, immediately getting herself up on her feet and against the wall. Earl looked up and began to chuckle at her as she then exhaled.

"So, clearly an adrenaline rush makes you go the extra mile."

Chiya nodded her head affirmatively very quickly, "Yes, it did motivate me to really push it."

Earl rubbed his hands together, "From what you've told me, you usually have an okay edge on Excalibur, perhaps this will seal the victory for you."

She sighed and dipped her head, "I tried so hard to get that money back for the bank…"

Earl frowned at her and looked away, "Yes, I know you did…"

Chiya walked over to the weightlifting bench and ran her hand across the steel of the weight. She then laid back on the bench and looked up at the metal bar, wondering if she could actually lift it.

Earl chuckled as he approached her, "I don't think you have enough strength for that…"

She grasped the bar but was hesitating to lift it up. _This does look kind of heavy…_ Earl grabbed the top of the bar and held it down, not allowing her to lift it. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"No offense, but I don't want you to even try this…"

Chiya let go of the bar and got back up, "I guess I'd rather stay the way I am, I don't really want muscles."

Earl chuckled at her, "Thank God, I think you look fine the way you are-larger muscles would only make you look creepy."

Chiya glanced away from him and puckered her lips, "You seem to balance it out great, not too strong-not too scrawny."

Earl closed his eyes and raised his eyebrows proudly, "I don't do too much work, want to see my usual workout?" he asked putting his hand on the bar.

Chiya swung her attention back at him with a quivering smile, "Y- yes!"

Earl nodded his head with a smirk, clearly not realizing that Chiya was getting some kind of excitement from this. He laid back on the bench and grabbed the bar, then slowly lifted it up. Chiya lowered her eyebrows at him in disappointment.

"I usually start off by doing some simple lifting for about five to eight- …"

I wonder why he's gonna' work with his shirt on this time, what's different?

she bit her lip somewhat feeling like a bad person, she then found that his room had a thermostat in it. Chiya wasn't listening to Earl, who was explaining his routine workout session. _I could turn up the thermostat, maybe then he'd…_ she face palmed and shook her head negatively. _That's disgusting! I can't believe I'd even consider that!_ She then looked down at Earl, who was now lifting while talking. Chiya looked at the thermostat again and slowly began moving towards it-Earl didn't seem to know that she was walking away from him, as he was still explaining.

"-cause if I do that, then I could turn out like Michael Chain, and I definitely don't want to be that large, so it's always crucial to have a scale so you know just how much- …"

Chiya silently turned the thermostat up in his room, then quickly came walking up to him again. Earl set the bar back down and looked at Chiya, "That's all there is to it, that's just the simple lifting I do on my spare time."

Chiya bit her lip and put her hands behind her back, "You already started, sh- shouldn't you just keep going?" Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "I mean, you kind of just started your routine lifting, you as might as well do the rest."

Earl blinked at her a few times, somewhat intrigued as to how this could possibly benefit her. Chiya continued to look at him with a frantic smile-her eyebrows twitching as she waited for a response. _Oh God, he's on to me-why am I such an idiot..?_ Earl nodded at her slowly and sat back down.

"Good idea, I guess I'll see you later then."

Chiya rubbed the back of her head slowly and glanced away, "U-uh, I was thinking I'd check out your TV," Earl shook his head at her, "I think it has more channels than mine."

Earl rubbed his chin and hummed curiously, "That's peculiar, we should have the same channels…"

"Well I guess we don't, but if you really want me to le-eave…"

Earl shrugged at her, "It's fine, do whatever you wish."

Chiya grinned and approached his bed, then sat down on it and grabbed the remote. She was staring at Earl as she pressed random buttons on the remote, simply trying to keep sounds coming from the TV. Chiya gritted her teeth in frustration as she clicked through channels, _No, there's nothing wrong with finding a guy's muscles sexy, a lot of girls are like this…_ She came across a military channel that she didn't recognize, becoming both interested in the program and Earl. _Maybe I should turn the thermostat back down, that was just weird of me…_ Chiya could tell that the room was much warmer at this point, Earl was rubbing his arm constantly as if he had been sweating.

"Jesus Christ, you'd think Seppuku would keep the heat down considering we're piss poor," said Earl.

Chiya fake laughed at him, "Oh, is it hot in here? Didn't notice…"

Earl quirked his mouth at her, "Maybe it's just me…"

Chiya then gasped and widened her eyes as Earl began lifting his shirt off. She found herself almost closing her eyes, feeling that she was allowing herself to become some kind of pervert. _Bad Chiya, bad, bad…_

Earl began to chuckle as he lifted weights, "You know, I always thought that we might get a third member in this organization-but I always pictured that it'd be another man."

Chiya began to stare at him closely, once again biting on her finger, "Who woulda' thought…" she muttered loudly.

"But you're the cool kind of girl, I figured most girls would have freaked out in disgust at something like this."

Apparently not me…

she thought nervously. She continued to stare at his arms and chest and began to turn red once again, _I- it's okay! It's not like I'm picturing anything dirty, I'm just attracted to his upper body…_ she then let out a grunting noise and crossed her legs together with a dreamy look on her face. She then let out a slight quivering grin as she continued to watch him-a completely different Chiya.

Seppuku was in his office reading a news article on his computer, he was shaking his head with a look of discontent, "Oh, Chiya'll hate this…" He then printed off the article and stood up, grabbing the paper quickly off his desk.

Seppuku walked down the hallway towards Chiya's room, he had a bland look on his face but expected that Chiya would be aggravated by the article he had found. He kicked open Chiya's door-but only found a shocked Mauser. He scanned the room for Chiya but didn't see her anywhere, Mauser then leaped off of the bed and started coming towards the door-planning to escape.

"Not today fleabag!" he yelled as he slammed the door quickly.

He then turned around and found that Earl's door was open. Seppuku took a few steps forward and immediately stopped in shock as he took a single step into his room-he could tell that it was hot. Seppuku raised an eyebrow and looked over at Earl who was still lifting shirtless, he then gasped silently as he looked over at Chiya. She had her finger in her mouth with a perverse smile, a red face, and had her legs crossed together oddly-it was clear to Seppuku that she was looking at Earl.

"Chiya!" he shouted angrily.

Both Earl and Chiya stopped what they were doing and looked at Seppuku, he had a furious look on his face as he stared into Chiya's eyes. She had a shocked look on her face, as if she knew that she was uncovered by him. Seppuku crumpled the article in his hand slightly and pointed at Earl.

"You stay and keep at it," he then gritted his teeth at Chiya, "You get the Hell out here…"

Chiya grunted in awe at Seppuku, then hesitantly got off of Earl's bed and moved towards the door with a look of shame. Seppuku turned his head at the thermostat and turned it down to a content temperature. Chiya took small steps towards the door and momentarily went right past Seppuku. Seppuku pointed at Earl as he began to close the door.

"Stay there…" he demanded.

Earl hesitantly nodded at him, then continued his workout. Seppuku closed the door and whipped himself around at Chiya, who was attempting to escape to her room.

"Flower!" he shouted.

Chiya jolted up straight and turned her head, "Y- yes sir?"

Seppuku held his clenched fist at her, "Mind telling me what the Hell that was about?"

She shook her head defiantly at him, "I was watching TV!"

"What the Hell was on then, an adult tape?"

Chiya shook her head franticly, "No!"

"Then you were finding pleasure out of Bendek."

"No, no!"

Seppuku smirked at her, "Then why are your eyes so glassy looking?"

Chiya swallowed and shook her head defiantly, "Because you're yelling at me!"

Seppuku growled at her, then pulled out his wallet-Chiya took a step back fearfully. She widened her eyes as Seppuku pulled out a large amount of credits, he had a serious look on his face as he held it out in front of her.

"Go change your undergarments and show me your current pair, if they're dry-you get three-hundred credits."

Chiya gasped with an appalled look and stepped back again, "What the Hell! That's really pervy!"

"That wasn't an order, I'm just saying-for someone who wasn't eye-raping her friend, this is easy money."

Chiya clenched her fists and continued to growl at him, she dipped her head down and turned red, "S- sexual harassment!" she shouted accusingly.

Seppuku sneered at her, "If I see you doing that again, I'm kicking your cat out of this base-this is a workplace, and that was highly inappropriate."

Chiya dipped her head down and sighed, "I wasn't…"

"By the way," he then threw his hand out at her, "Michael Chain made it to Mysteria, but he failed to retrieve the Wild Boar."

She then looked back up at him and growled, "Oh great…"

Seppuku nodded and handed her the article, "We'll deal with him in due time, perhaps before or after the third race."

Chiya nodded affirmatively at him, "S- sounds good."

Seppuku began walking towards his office door, he took a look back at her, "I'm serious, no more of _that_, I shouldn't be the one teaching you the do's and don'ts of that subject…"

Chiya cringed and grabbed her doorknob, "Shut up Seppuku…" she muttered back as she entered her room while trembling.

A few minutes later, Chiya remained sitting on her bed while holding Mauser-she was petting him with a very saddened look. She knew that Seppuku was right, but she didn't know what to do or even how to control herself. She mostly feared that her sudden lust would make her do something stupid-which would result in Mauser being thrown out if caught.

"I need help, but who can I go to?" she asked aloud silently. She looked down at Mauser and sighed, "Can't bring this up with Earl, Seppuku would get mad, Bart might be mad at me for quitting at the café…"

She then tapped her finger on her chin and contemplated, "Jody?" she proposed, she then shook her head negatively, _I could only imagine how she'd react if I came and asked such dirty questions…_ she licked her lips and continued thinking. The last idea she could come up with, was to simply go and ask a doctor-she then sighed as she remembered, she had no health insurance or money. Chiya had nowhere to go, she would simply have to conquer this dilemma on her own. _Maybe I should just lie and tell him that I have a problem with him lifting…_ She growled angrily and held her forehead.

"This is so stupid!" she flailed her hand in front of Mauser, "Why couldn't it have been flipped around? Isn't it the guy who's usually like this?"

She then stood up angrily and walked towards her drawers, she reached in and began to pull out clothes. _A shower will calm me down…_

A little later, she exited the bathroom with a grin on her face, "It's like I washed my brain as well, I don't feel very dirty anymore."

She walked over to Earl's room and hesitantly entered, but he was nowhere to be seen. She looked at his bed and sighed, feeling shameful of how she was acting previously. Chiya took a step back and closed the door, _Must be in the garage…_ she then proceeded down the hallway, she expected that he was either there or in Seppuku's office-alternatively he could be out of the base. She slowly approached the garage door and grabbed the doorknob, silently opening it; she then took a few steps in and found that Earl was once again working on the _Purring Kitten_-only he had removed the cockpit window completely. Chiya gasped and flailed her arms as she ran up to him immediately.

"Earl! What are you doing!?"

He nearly dropped his wrench in shock and turned around, "Jesus…" he muttered as he wiped his forehead.

She held her forehead and began to panic as she looked at all of the dismantled parts of the _Purring Kitten_-even the dashboard was taken out, "Earl! How do you expect us to fix all of this before the next race!?"

Earl swished his hand at her with a smirk, "You seem to underestimate me, I have a lot of time on my hands-this'll be a cake run."

She grunted constantly as she looked down at all the separated parts, it looked like a giant puzzle to her, "Bu- but, what the Hell are you even doing?"

Earl pointed inside of the cockpit and quirked his mouth at her, "Installed an AC, might even put a heater in if I have the time."

She shook her head constantly at him, "No, no, no, no time for that! Let's hurry up and get this all back inside of the Purring Kitten!"

Earl began to laugh at her, "Calm down Chiya, you and me did this all the time to the Red Dove, what could go wrong?"

She bit her fingernail nervously and nodded, "I guess that's fine…"

Earl yawned and held the wrench over his shoulder, "So what'd Seppuku want?"

She gasped and glanced away from him instantly, "U-uh, he informed me that Michael Chain made it to Mysteria."

"So he's long gone…"

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "Finding him is going to be our mission when we head off for Mysteria later in the Grand Prix."

Earl smirked at her, "Will that be _yo-our_ mission?"

"What do you mean?"

"I imagine you'd rather go find your family, not hunt some muscular gang member."

Chiya dipped her head down with a smile, "That would be great, but I'm not allowed to see my mother anymore."

Earl lowered his eyebrows at her, "I don't think you ever told me that part."

She puckered her lips and shrugged, "After my dad died, I was to go on trial for my crimes-but my mother hid me on a ship en route for Earth, they put a restraining order between us as soon as they learned of my disappearance."

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you ever going to tell me what this crime was?" She dropped her eyebrows with an offended look, "You don't have to, but I'm sure it isn't as bad as killing hundreds of civilians in a war-like me."

"It was a family related crime, I'm never going any further than that."

Earl bowed respectively at her, "Very well," he then set down his tool and began walking towards the door, "I'm going to bed, I'll have everything back in the Purring Kitten by tomorrow."

"Okay then, sweet dreams."

Chiya momentarily found herself following Earl however, as she had no other reason to be in the garage. The two broke away from each other and went separate directions, each going into their rooms. Chiya took a few steps into her room and stretched, momentarily kicking off her boots and leaping onto her bed. She then got on her back and stared at the ceiling, _I wonder what White Land will be like…_ she thought with a dazed look on her face. She was having happy images of what the planet might hold for them, mostly unrealistic thoughts-such as Seppuku and Earl playing with her in the snow. She then began to chuckle as she thought about Seppuku some more.

"I bet if I threw a snowball at him, he'd retaliate…"

She then raised an eyebrow at the sound of a scratching noise, she looked around for a few moments but found nothing-then she stood up. Chiya frowned at the sight of the door, Mauser was up against the door clawing at it. She sighed and shook her head negatively.

"I hate that I have to trap you in here, but Seppuku will get rid of you if I let you out…" The cat didn't respond, rather he let out a meow at the door-after several months, Mauser was wanting to explore, "If I was more intimidating, I'd demand that Seppuku let you roam freely, but I'm not a strong person-not like Earl."

She then quirked her mouth as she stared at Mauser intensely, "Not that I want nice muscles like him, I'd look creepy, but they look great on Earl-you have to understand Mauser."

The cat turned its head at her upon hearing his name, Chiya began to shake her head and groaned momentarily, "I need to figure out how to fix this, now…" She then got a look of frustration on her face as she stood up.

She walked towards the door quickly while curling her hair with a finger constantly, she had a distressed look and was grinding her teeth as she walked. She pushed Mauser aside and leapt out of her room quickly, then shut it behind her. She immediately put her face against Earl's door and began to growl at herself. _This seriously isn't right…_ She found that her hair was now becoming somewhat messed up at the account of her pulling on it so much-she was almost looking crazy. She then got up and began walking towards Seppuku's office. _I know how I can solve this, so simple, I'll never need to see Earl shirtless again…_

Seppuku was standing up with his rifle against his chest, he was cleaning the silencer of his rifle-which he had taken off. The silencer was a gift from Chiya months ago when they were still very wealthy. The silencer was one of the gifts Chiya had given him that he truly seemed to like-the black and red fedora being the latest gift from her he thoroughly enjoyed. He put the silencer back on the rifle and grinned at it.

"All clean baby…"

Chiya kicked open the door with a distressed look, her hair was now slightly ruffled and she had her teeth gritted tight. Seppuku turned towards her and raised an eyebrow, "Jesus, you lo-"

"Seppuku, do you have a camera I can borrow?"

He quirked his mouth at her and nodded slowly, "For?"

"I want to go sightseeing!" she lied.

"At midnight?"

She held her hand out quickly and began to growl, "Do you have one or not?"

Seppuku dug around in a drawer in his desk and pulled out a small silver looking device, "I carry this around sometimes, but I want to kno-"

She then snatched it out of his hand and grinned at him, "Thanks!"

She then ran out the door with the camera, Seppuku moved his quirked mouth left and right in confusion, then hummed suspiciously.

Chiya kneeled by Earl's door with the camera and began toying around with it, _All I need is a picture of those muscles, then I can look at them whenever I want, and I'll get bored of it, then I'll be over it for good!_ she gritted her teeth in frustration as she tried figuring out how to use the camera. She knew that Earl would fall asleep quickly, so she could simply run in and take a picture of his exposed chest. _This is justified, I'm trying to stop myself from this strange desire, so it's okay!_ she thought trying to reassure herself. She found the camera had turned on and smirked at it, prepared to pull off the operation.

"Okay, just on-"

Seppuku then grabbed her by the neck forcibly and grabbed the camera out of her hands, she immediately began to struggle and panic.

"Se- Seppuku!"

"I have had enough!" he yelled angrily at her.

Chiya was grunting for air, Seppuku was carrying her by her neck with ease back to her room. She began to kick her legs constantly trying to break free-but it was as if his arms was made of steel. Seppuku kicked open Chiya's room and threw her down onto her bed, he slammed the door behind him and crossed his arms at her angrily.

"What did I tell you Chiya!?"

She shook her head defiantly at him, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Shut the Hell up, I am this close to kicking you outta' here if you keep this up, you clearly have no self-control."

Chiya shook her head at him constantly, "No, you misunderstand me!" he patiently waited for Chiya to explain herself, but she had nothing to back her comment up with, momentarily looking away from Seppuku.

"Speak child, or I'm throwing the cat out, tell the damn truth and I'll give you one last warning."

Chiya grunted at him, then looked at Mauser who was on her bed. She sighed and dipped her head down with closed eyes, "Okay, fine, I'm a little dirty minded lately…"

"-for Bendek?"

Chiya blushed and shrugged at him, "Kind of…"

Seppuku began to chuckle and shook his head at her, "Knew it, why am I not surprised," Chiya got a somewhat offended look at him, yet a look of sorrow, "You fantasize about him sweeping you off your feet and unwrapping you like a piece of candy, huh?"

Chiya gasped and shook her head constantly, "No-o, that is far from the truth! I'm only attracted to his upper body! The lower body never, ever, crossed my mind!"

Seppuku scratched the back of his head, "Uh, okay then…"

"I don't know what to do, I keep getting these feelings-"

Seppuku began to wave his hands at her constantly, "I don't wanna' hear about your _feelings_, just knock it off," both Seppuku and Chiya then remained silent for a few seconds, Seppuku momentarily turned his head towards the door, "Now, you can keep your fleabag, but I'm bringing this up to Bendek."

Chiya let out a loud gasp and immediately leaped off of her bed and grabbed his legs, "No, no, no, no! Ple-ease don't tell him about this!"

Seppuku growled at her as he began to drag her towards the door, "Get off of me! You won't learn anything unless there is some consequence!"

Chiya shook her head constantly and began to hyperventilate, "Please no, please no! I can't help it!"

Seppuku kicked her chin roughly and backed away from her, she now lay on the floor with a miserable look-Seppuku looked down at the moaning Chiya. "Please Seppuku, it'll ruin our friendship forever…"

Seppuku exhaled angrily at her, then looked down at her, "You were going to take pictures of him in his sleep, do you realize how terrible that is? That's practically rape in it's own form…"

Chiya gasped and shook her head at him, "But-"

"How would you feel, if he brought a camera into your room and started taking pictures of your body?"

Chiya slowly looked down onto the floor, her face practically planted down on the floor, "Sad, betrayed, used…"

Seppuku nodded at her, "One chance, if you mess up one more time, you and Mauser are both getting the boot."

He then turned towards the door, but Chiya grabbed his leg again, "Wait!"

He looked down at her angrily, "What?"

She got on her feet and dipped her head down sadly, "Well, how do I keep myself from doing this stuff?"

Seppuku stared at her for a few moments, then quirked his mouth uncomfortably, "There is a way I know that you can control this…"

Chiya clapped her hands together playfully and smiled, "Thank God! Teach me!"

He momentarily grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back onto her bed, she got a startled look as he stood in front of her, "It's fairly simple, but life changing-do you really want me to teach you?"

Chiya hesitantly nodded at him, "Whatever it takes, I want to be a good friend and an F-Zero ra-"

He then held her mouth shut and looked at her angrily, "I am not speaking about this, nor will you ask me about this-you keep this to yourself."

She nodded her head and waited for the solution to her problem, he then slowly reached out for her hand-then lifted up her index finger. He nodded at her slowly and began to step away from her, going towards the door again. Chiya slowly looked down at her finger, then gasped loudly.

"Wha- bu- but Seppuku-"

"That's it, whether you do that is up to you-just don't bring it up with me."

Chiya began to whimper as she stared at her finger, Seppuku momentarily locked her door and walked out, closing it behind him. Chiya continued to whimper, her hand now trembling with a disturbed look. _I- I couldn't…_ she thought nervously. Mauser was staring at her as she contemplated on what she would do, she fully understood what Seppuku was implying-she just didn't know if this were the right thing to do. She gritted her teeth as she then rubbed her forehead with widened eyes. She sighed as she laid back on her bed, shaking her head as she looked at her hand. _I don't know what to do-o…_ she thought franticly. She looked over at Mauser for a few moments, then lowered her eyebrows and nodded. She laid her head down on her pillow and gritted her teeth in frustration.

Meanwhile far away in space, Dark Rose and Brock Blaskovitz came walking down the hallway of Black Shadow's ship together. Dark Rose was much shorter compared to Brock-just like Chiya. Rose lifted up a withered flower from her pocket and smirked at it, ripping off the petals as she began to chuckle silently.

"I'm gonna' miss that goofball…" she muttered with a mischievous grin.

Brock smirked at her as they walked towards the door to the throne room, "Worry not, Blood Falcon will be safely back on this ship soon enough."

Rose dropped her grin and growled, "I was kidding, I don't really care…"

The two then entered the large room, Black Shadow was sitting on his chair holding his chin. Dark Rose raised an eyebrow at the sight of a dark cloaked man standing ahead of her. Black Shadow chuckled as he looked down at the three, he then put his hands together deviously.

"You two are late."

Dark Rose brushed her hair in the air, "The superior Chiya needs time to work on her beauty…"

Black Shadow swished his hand at her, "Whatever, now that everyone is present-I can proceed with the plan."

Brock crossed his arms together, "How will we be crushing our enemies?"

Black Shadow pointed at the cloaked man, "_They_ will be destroying each other, we will be testing just how loyal Seppuku's team really is to each other." The man then turned around, revealing a bright skull slightly silhouetted by the hood-it was the racer known as _The Skull_; pilot of the _Sonic Phantom_.

Rose growled at the sight of him, "What can that bonehead do that I can't?"

"Illusion curse," Skull responded.

Black Shadow nodded, "That's right, if Seppuku's team is truly loyal to each other, they should have no problem resisting the urge to kill each other under a curse."

Rose then smiled and let out a slight chuckle, "How very cruel of you Emperor Shadow…"

The Skull waved his hands across his face, "It all starts with confusion and random occurrences, the curse will get more mind affecting up until the point that they stop me."

"What kind of mind affecting?"

"Spirits, fake demons, they are all fake-but they don't have to know that…"

Black Shadow nodded, "Leave now Skull, if you are compromised-leave, I have a back up plan that requires your services if this fails."

Skull nodded and began walking out of the room, not a single footstep could be heard as he walked. Rose turned towards Black Shadow as the Skull then left the room.

"You really think they will betray each other out of fear?"

Black Shadow slowly smirked at her, "No, but let's play with them a little, shake them up," he stood up and flailed his hand in the air, "We are still far from going on with our master plan, we have all the time in the world to kill them…"

To be continued…


	28. Lap 27

==Lap 27=

A few hours later, Chiya was silently sleeping in her bed with Mauser somewhat after midnight. Chiya had put on her pajamas yet again, she did this only when she feared that it may get hot in her room-as she was intolerant of the heat. Her closed eyes were constantly twitching and she was kicking her leg constantly, Mauser momentarily woke up to find his master yet again becoming disturbed in her sleep. The sound of a loud metal crashing noise then echoed through the base, Chiya immediately leaped upward and gasped. She lowered her eyebrows and scanned the room, but the noise was coming from elsewhere. A few moments later, the sound of metal scraping against the ground could be heard outside of her room-Chiya predicted the worst, like the chances of Dark Rose or Brock Blaskovitz roaming their base. She grabbed her handgun off the table and proceeded cautiously towards the door.

"Well I chipped the weight when I dropped that…" said Earl.

Earl and Seppuku were moving the weightlifting bench back into the closet, Earl had dropped the lift on accident-which is what woke Chiya up. Chiya moments later walked into the room cautiously, she then gasped at the sight of the two removing the bench.

"Wha- what's going on?" asked Chiya.

Both Seppuku and Earl turned around, Seppuku got an angry look, "Why aren't you sleeping?" Chiya didn't answer him, rather she waited for a proper answer, "I'm doing you a favor, Flower."

Chiya widened her eyes and glanced at Earl for a moment, _That bastard went and told Earl anyways!_ she thought accusingly. Earl grinned at her and nodded momentarily, he didn't have his coat on-meaning he had been sleeping.

"Chi', all you had to do was be honest with me," Chiya immediately gasped and took a step back, prepared to retreat to her room, "I wouldn't have been offended if you just told me that my lifting bothered you."

Chiya grunted and looked at Seppuku, he hadn't told Earl the complete truth, "Uh, yes, I just thought it would be bad of me to keep you from exercise," she lied.

Earl nodded at her and rubbed his hands together, he then yawned. Seppuku gave Chiya an intense stare and crossed his arms together, "Are you feeling better?"

Chiya slightly gasped and dipped her head down with a shameful look, "Uh, yes, I am, thank you…"

Earl raised an eyebrow at Chiya, "You were sick?"

A little sick minded, yes…

she answered in her head. "I was feeling a little sick, yes."

"She got sick with the case of stupidity, unfortunately it's incurable…" said Seppuku.

Chiya growled at him and stomped her foot down, "Shut up! I'm not stupid!"

"Should I tell him the truth then?"

Chiya grunted and dipped her head down, "Well, maybe I was a little air headed today…"

Earl shut the closet door and rubbed his hands together, "Seppuku, you're sick with immaturity-now let me get back to sleep…"

Seppuku looked back at Chiya and smirked, "Why are you even here?"

She rubbed her foot along the ground and puckered her lips, "Well, I had a bad dream, and I heard noises-so I was a tad bit frightened."

Seppuku stood still for a few moments before shaking his head negatively at her, "Come on," he said grabbing her by the arm.

"Hey come on, maybe I wanted to talk to Earl!" she complained as he dragged her away.

"He's going to bed, and so are you."

"But you can't just order me around like some little baby, I'm a full g-"

Earl then shut the door behind them and turned around, moving back to his bed with a grin, "Silly girl…" he then shut off his lamp and laid down on his bed, "So what if she was attracted to my muscles, that's a compliment on my part," he said aloud with a grin.

The moon shined down on Seppuku's base, Mute City was fairly silent and little lights were seen on in the Lower City-it was a ghost town. Above the roof of the base was a dark shadowed man in a cloak, he stood still looking down at the roof as he had just arrived-it was The Skull. The skeleton moved his finger up towards the moon and began to chuckle.

"The lights dim, and the curtains begin to open…" He then pulled out a black book with blood red pages, "On this dark night, the young Flower shall awaken to quite a surprise to set the drama!"

His hand began to leave a dark purple mist as he spoke, slight sprinkles falling down from his risen hand onto the roof, "The drama will create the tension, as I create seemingly unstoppable beasts of darkness…" the mist then turned red, "Soon the antagonist reveals himself, giving the option of betrayal in return for survival…" The mist then turned white, "Finally, I bring their greatest fears into action, leading to the climax."

He then closed the book and waved his hand around his face, "To set the mood, we hide all exits and electricity…"

He touched the roof of the base and within seconds it was covered with a stasis of energy, the entire base was wrapped in a dark energy looking field-but momentarily vanished. Skull began to laugh as he sat down, "-and now we wait for the show to begin…"

A few hours went by and it was now early in the morning, though it was still pitch black outside. Chiya was softly sleeping in her bed, but Mauser was constantly running around the room franticly in an energetic mood. Chiya was beginning to quirk and twitch as she heard Mauser running around.

"Mauser sweety', please, shut the Hell up…"

Mauser continued to run around, she then could hear another noise along with Mauser's playing-a metal sound. Mauser was playing with some metal object on the floor, but the first thing Chiya felt that it sounded like was a bullet from her handgun. She opened her eyes and squinted, trying to see Mauser in the dark-but her room was pitch black. She groaned and reached over for the lamp, she had no intentions of getting up, but was intrigued to see what Mauser was rolling around the room.

"I should probably get you a little cat toy if you-u…" she was constantly pressing her lamp's switch, but no light would come on, she grunted in frustration and shook her head, "Burnt bulb, that's great…"

She then sat up preparing to leave the room, to her surprise though-she didn't see a light coming from underneath her door, she couldn't even find her door in the darkness. She stood up but immediately felt that something was wrong, she widened her eyes and moved her hand around her chest, as she moved her hand down, she began feeling more of a slope-that's when she got to her belly…

Earl was in Seppuku's office, Seppuku had just turned on an emergency light device he had in his room that was as bright as a flare. Earl was rubbing his chin as he stared at Seppuku-the entire base was mysteriously cut off from power.

Seppuku grinned at Earl, "Believe it or not, this is what I had to deal with every day when I first got this base, didn't have the money to pay for power."

"Is that why you have that light coincidentally in your office?"

Seppuku nodded at him, "Don't worry, somehow I'm positive that Jody's behind this, which is why I had an alternative backup generator installed in this base years ago…"

"Good, where's the ge-"

Earl was then interrupted by the sound of Chiya screaming, Earl jolted up in shock-the darkness made this all the more frightening. Chiya had screamed from inside her room, meaning she screamed very loudly to be heard from inside the office.

Seppuku crossed his arms together, "I take it Chiya is afraid of the dark?"

Earl had a panicked look on his face and began moving towards the door-but Chiya had instantly charged into the office hyperventilating. Seppuku shook his head negatively at Chiya and smirked, "Need a nightlight?"

"What's wrong Chiya?" asked Earl.

She was holding her forehead and was trembling greatly, she then turned towards Earl slowly with a fearful look, "Earl, I- I'm pregnant…"

Seppuku and Earl both had a shock go down their spines, they then noticed the abnormally large belly Chiya had-her shirt wasn't large enough to hide her exposed belly.

Earl shook his head in disbelief, "Pregnant? Who the Hell's the father!?"

Seppuku quirked his mouth at her, "That Jason guy?"

Chiya shook her head negatively at him, Earl then clenched his fist, "Better not be that damn bastard…"

"I don't know who, this doesn't make any sense-I'm still a virgin."

Seppuku and Earl both looked at each other slowly, they both then got looks of discontent at each other.

"Seppuku!"

"Bendek!"

They both began to growl at each other, Seppuku pointed his finger at Earl, "You dirty rapist, you probably took advantage of her while she was sleeping!"

Earl narrowed his eyes at him, "Wha- no-o, how do I know that _you_ didn't do that!?" He then looked over at Chiya, "You look like the kind of guy who'd be carrying various sex toys in that coat…"

Seppuku clenched his fists and growled at him, "Please, I'm almost twice as old as her…"

Chiya had a disturbed look on her face as she looked back and forth at the arguing two, she was mostly disturbed at the fact that they were arguing over who took advantage of her heavy sleeping. She then looked down at her belly and raised an eyebrow.

"Wait a minute, I was just fine last night, how can my belly be this large already?"

Earl then grunted in shock, "Jesus, she's right-she looks almost six months pregnant, this can't be right…"

Chiya widened her eyes at what Earl had said, then entered a heavy thought with a look of awe. Seppuku rubbed his chin as he looked at Chiya, "Dammit, the last thing we need is a damn baby in this organization…"

Chiya then smiled and looked up at them, "Guys, it's okay…"

Earl gasped at her and rubbed the back of his head, "Huh!?"

She then rubbed her belly and continued to smile gleefully, "Don't you see? This is the second coming-I'm going to give birth to Jesus…"

Seppuku face palmed and Earl sighed at her, "Chiya, you are not giving birth to Jesus Christ."

She shrugged at him, "I don't see why not, think about it-I could be the Virgin Mary, destined to bring Christ bac-"

"Shut up Chiya, stop bringing your little beliefs into this, this is serious," said Seppuku.

Chiya gave Seppuku an offended look, Earl then bit his lip and grabbed Chiya's hand, "Screw this, that is not a baby, that's a tumor or something-I'm taking you to the hospital."

Chiya hesitantly nodded her head at him, "I think it's Jesus, but we might as well check with a doctor to be safe."

Earl got to the door before realizing that it would be pitch black everywhere they went until they could find the exit. "Seppuku, we need a light-and where's this backup generator you were talkin' about?"

Seppuku threw Earl the light he was holding, "To the left of your car, there's a panel with a red switch-just pull it down."

Earl nodded and walked out the door with Chiya, he held the door for her with a shocked look.

The two walked down the main hallway of the base, Earl and Chiya were both looking at her pregnant belly in awe-Earl was praying that it wasn't actually a child. Chiya had somewhat of a scared look on her face as she rubbed it, it was as if she were having a bad dream.

"I'm scared, I'm not ready to have a child right now…"

Earl quirked his mouth and shook his head negatively, "Don't worry, me and Seppuku are here to help-even if this is asinine…"

She gritted her teeth nervously and lowered her eyebrows, "I want to have a child, but only with the person I love-I don't even know where this came from…"

Earl opened the door to the lobby of the base and sighed, he then looked away from her, "I mean, you do still have, _the choice_…"

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "What choice?"

Earl gave her a stern look and swallowed, "You know, you're still pregnant, me and Seppuku wouldn't judge you if you decided to a-"

She quickly shook her head negatively, "No! I would never consider that! I mean, what if it _is_ Jesus? Killing our lord, I think I'd be buying myself a ticket to Hell!"

Earl grunted and dipped his head down, he didn't feel that Chiya giving birth to Jesus Christ was likely what was going on-yet he found himself not wanting to risk anything.

About two minutes later the two made it to the garage, Chiya and Earl stood at the door and was looking at the _Red Dove_. Earl shook his head negatively and pointed at his own vehicle.

"We'll just take my car, here's the keys, get it started while I find this generator."

He handed her his car keys and began looking around for the backup generator. Chiya hesitantly approached the driver's seat of the car, she could just barely see the vehicle because of the bright light Earl was holding-he was moving to another part of the garage. She opened the door and got in, she began moving her hand across the dashboard-she was trying to find where to put the keys. She momentarily nudged her finger across a key slit, she then put the key in and turned it-but to her surprise nothing happened. She gasped in awe as she constantly turned the key, but it was as if the vehicle was permanently powered off.

"Earl! It's not turning on!" she panicked.

Earl shook his head in frustration as he looked across the wall for the generator. He momentarily found a few wires going across the wall, he simply followed the wires until he was brought to a large metallic box on the wall.

"Just stay calm Chiya, I found the generator."

He then lifted the lid up and grasped a red lever, he immediately pulled it downward. Moments later, Earl sighed as nothing had happened-the base was simply stuck without power. He then turned around towards his vehicle and began walking towards it.

"Alright, let's just get you to a hospital."

She got out of the vehicle and flailed her hands, "I'm telling you, it doesn't work."

"Nonsense, you're probably just not used to operating a normal vehicle."

He got inside and immediately shined the light towards the dashboard, the key was still inside of the vehicle. He lowered his eyebrows nervously and grasped the key, turning it quickly-but nothing happened. He began to bite on his finger as their options were becoming chopped to down.

"Alright, something bad is going down, this isn't just a power outage…"

"Black Shadow?" proposed Chiya.

Earl grunted and shook his head negatively, "Regardless, I'm escorting you to a hospital, come on we'll walk there." Chiya stared at him with a frightened look, Earl gritted his teeth and shivered at the darkness that surrounded them, "Can you make the long walk to the Upper City? Or does your belly hurt too much?"

Chiya shook her head negatively, "For some reason, I feel completely normal, as if I'm not pregnant."

Earl sighed and grabbed her hand again, then began walking towards the door-with the power off, they couldn't simply exit the building through the large garage door. The two walked out of the garage and reentered the lobby, the lobby was so large and empty, all that was visible was the display case Seppuku had of his trophy, medals, and broken Blood Falcon helmet. Earl looked at Chiya with a grim look, he could feel that her hand was shaking greatly in fear.

"It's gonna' be okay Chiya, it's not like you're going to die or anything…"

She slightly nodded and put her hand on her belly, he then moved forward with her but came to an immediate stop. Earl gasped as he was staring at a blank wall, he looked around each side of the room for the exit-but there was no exit; it was gone. Earl shook his head in disbelief, there was no door to be seen, only walls-as if it had been removed but replaced with a wall.

"This isn't possible…"

Chiya shook her head in horror, "Wh- where's the door!?"

Earl roughly put his hand against the wall, "That's impossible, it's as if there never was a door!"

Chiya began to hyperventilate out of fear, "This isn't happening, this must be a dream!" She then began to kick the wall roughly, desperate to get out of the dark base, "What the Hell is going on!?" she panicked.

Earl stomped his foot down, "Seppu-uku-u!" he shouted very loudly.

Chiya and Earl both looked back and saw that the door to the hallway was still present, along with the door to the garage, but whether they liked it or not-there was no way out. Seppuku came running into the lobby momentarily with his rifle equipped.

"Why haven't you gotten the lights back on?" Earl swished his hand at the blank wall, Seppuku then grunted, "What did you do with the exit?"

Chiya held her face and shook in fear, "Nothing is working Seppuku, not even our vehicles!"

Earl nodded at her, then looked back at Seppuku, "She's right, nothing electronic works-this isn't a power outage."

Seppuku rubbed his chin in confusion, the light Earl was holding wasn't electronic-rather it was more of a flare-like glow stick. Earl grabbed Chiya's hand tighter and approached Seppuku, "We need to call for help, do you have a cell phone?"

"No, why don't you?"

Earl dipped his head down, "Well, now that I'm not dating random girls, I didn't feel the need to keep paying for it."

Seppuku growled and looked at Chiya, "Good job, Flower…"

Earl quickly held Chiya's mouth, refusing to let her respond, "We have explosives in the armory, don't we?"

Seppuku nodded but growled, "We're not blowing a hole in the wall…"

The three then jolted up startled as an ambient chuckle could be heard going throughout the base. Chiya widened her eyes and grabbed her hat, slightly tugging it downward in fear. She looked at Earl for comfort, but he too was standing motionless with a disturbed look.

"The show has yet to begin, and I'm already entertained by you three…"

Chiya gasped and took a step back, but Earl was still holding her hand tightly. Seppuku gritted his teeth angrily at the voice, "Skull."

Earl hesitantly looked over at Seppuku, "Wh- you mean, the racer?"

Seppuku nodded his head affirmatively, "How the Hell are you doing this? Why did you impregnate Flower?"

Chiya got an intense look of shock as the floor began to mist up, a thick fog covering the floor. She lifted her foot up and slightly screamed, Earl then looked down at her foot and widened his eyes at the misty ground.

"What the-"

Moments later, the vague image of a skull could be made floating above the mist, the skull was in the air facing the three. Chiya began to hyperventilate as she pointed at the skull, "What the Hell is that!?"

The misty skull turned towards Chiya specifically, "I'm creating a nightmare, and the only way to wake up is by killing each other."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "What? No!"

Earl smirked at the skull, "That's ridiculous, I'd sooner die with Chiya than kill her."

The skull chuckled at him, "All you need is a little persuasion, which is what my job is."

Seppuku chuckled at the skull and shook his head negatively, "You really think locking us in here is gonna' break us?"

Skull nodded, "Of course not, but what if I put some of my shadow beasts around the base?"

Chiya gasped and widened her eyes, "Wh- what's a shadow beast?"

"That would be a spoiler, and you never ruin a good show with spoilers."

Earl and Chiya were both sent into a state of shock as several growling noises could be heard throughout the base, Chiya's eyes quivered in horror at the demonic sounding creatures.

"I've just hidden several of my shadow beasts throughout your base, but I warn you-they don't like to reveal themselves until they're ready to stalk."

Chiya gasped and looked at Earl, "Let's just stay here in the lobby! It's too risky."

Earl nodded affirmatively, "That's right, who says that we need to leave this room anyways?"

"You could just stay in there, but eventually you'll need to look around for a way to escape."

Earl grunted and threw his fist down at his waist, "Damn it all…"

Seppuku growled and pointed at the misty skull angrily, "You damn bonehead! You can't hide forever!"

"On the contrary, I will remain out of sight until my task is complete."

The skull then began to fade away, but the mist on the floor remained flowing. Seppuku clenched his fists and turned towards Earl and Chiya, "Things just got supernatural…"

Chiya began to tremble as she scanned the lobby for anything out of the ordinary, "Does anyone have a gun with them?"

Seppuku raised his rifle up, "The best one on the market."

Chiya nodded and held Earl's arm fearfully, "Okay, then you should go and get us some weapons, we'll stay here."

Seppuku growled at her, "Why does Bendek stay here?"

She began to flail her hand at him, "Because I'm pregnant and scared out of my mind!"

Seppuku grabbed her other hand and gave her a stern look, "I don't care, now let's get moving."

Earl tugged Chiya towards him in response, "No-o, Chiya may contain another living being now, we can't just endanger her."

"Like I said, I don't care-let's just get to my office."

Earl let go of Chiya and walked with Seppuku, Chiya then gasped as she saw Earl leaving, "Hey wait a minute, aren't where are you going!?"

"Going with Seppuku to get some weapons, just stay here."

Chiya began to tremble as she stood against the wall, she shook her head negatively at the thought of the two leaving her there without a light, "No way! Wait for me then!" she panicked while running towards the two.

Chiya immediately latched herself to Earl's hand again, he had the light up in the air as he followed Seppuku-who had his rifle trained in front of him. She widened her eyes as Seppuku grasped the doorknob, expecting that some kind of creature would immediately leap out at them.

"Ey' Seppuku, how's this guy doing all of this anyways?" asked Earl.

Seppuku quietly opened the door, then quirked his mouth, "He's a dark illusionist, but I'm not familiar with any of his works."

Chiya swallowed nervously as they entered the dark hallway, "Knocking a girl up isn't a very entertaining magic trick…"

Seppuku stopped in the middle of the hallway and licked his lips, Earl and Chiya both stopped behind him and started looking around the hallway. Seppuku looked up at the corner of the hallway, up above his door was a dark splotch.

"Bendek, put some light up at my door."

Earl then aimed the light directly at his door, it was now easy to see that there was something black in the corner. Chiya gasped at it and got behind Earl, "Kill it, kill it, kill it!"

"I wouldn't call this very hidden, it's not even reacting to the light," said Earl.

Chiya began to shake Seppuku's arm violently, "For God sakes shoot it!"

Seppuku pushed her away from him, then began walking towards it. Earl grunted and shook his head quickly, "Seppuku are you crazy?"

He approached the dark corner and hummed as if he had discovered something, "Interesting," it didn't appear to be any type of creature-rather it was a still splotch of darkness, he put his hand through it slowly and lowered his eyebrows, "Strange, it's just something that light can't pass through…"

"Sh- shoot it anyways!" Chiya pleaded.

Chiya and Earl hesitantly approached Seppuku, he was rubbing his cheeks in confusion, "I don't understand what this is…"

Chiya looked down at the dark shadow like splotch-she then gazed into it and began to tremble. She was then met with the horrors of two glowing red eyes, she was instantly sent into a silent stare off. She opened her mouth and began to hyperventilate as she then saw a pair of fangs begin to open-the teeth were glowing white, Earl and Seppuku were not seeing the eyes and teeth for reasons unknown. Earl gasped as he saw a very deformed claw come out from the darkness, the arm was very long and had very demonic looking features to it-it was purely black. Chiya was stuck staring at the hand with a stunned look-not able to react to this.

"Chiya!" Earl yelled immediately grabbing the dark arm-but his hand went right through it.

Seppuku then threw his rifle out in front of him and began to fire into the dark figure-though the bullets didn't seem to affect it either. "Chi' get away from that thing!" yelled Earl.

Chiya wasn't responding, leaving Earl to pull her away from the creature, "What the Hell is this!?"

The red eyes of the creature disappeared, and a very human-like figure was beginning to crawl out of the darkness-the creature only had the torso of a human, but had several deformed looking arms. Earl began to enter a state of shock and was instantly stunned at the horror, Seppuku was the only one not completely frozen in fear. He angrily ran up to the head of the creature and placed the barrel of his rifle up to its head-firing right at it. The creature momentarily fell down dead and began to fade away, as if it weren't real. Earl and Chiya momentarily looked at each other and widened their eyes.

"I- I couldn't think straight…" said Chiya.

"Me either…"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the spot he had fired-there wasn't a bullet hole or even a shell on the ground. Seppuku then lifted his rifle up and took out the magazine-he found that the rifle was empty, he had killed the creature some other way.

"Light," Earl and Chiya both looked at him quickly, "Light is their bane."

Earl stomped his foot down, "Well we don't have light."

Chiya nodded her head, she was looking back constantly in fear of another attack, "So we need light to fight?"

"Yep, luckily we have an arsenal of weapons in the armory."

Seppuku then turned around but grunted in shock at what he saw-a wall. Earl walked with Chiya up to the wall, he dipped his head down in frustration; this door was missing as well.

Seppuku clenched his fists and growled loudly, "Damn you Skull! So help me, I'm gonna' break every single rib you have!"

The laughter of Skull could then be heard around them, Chiya shook her head in disbelief and began to tremble.

"Better hurry and find some light, because this is only the beginning!" Skull yelled joyfully.

To be continued…


	29. Lap 28

==Lap 28=

Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku were standing in the pitch black hallway of the base-only the slightest amount of light coming from a flare like glow stick. Chiya had her arms wrapped around Chiya while trembling in fear, her face was planted right at his side. Seppuku stood still bravely as he contemplated on what they would do, the main goal would be to find The Skull-the one behind the dilemma. Earl held the glow stick with a troubled look, he too was scared, but he wasn't breaking like Chiya. Ideally, Earl would become uncomfortable having Chiya holding him so tightly, but he could understand why she might need immediate comfort at this point-especially since she was supposedly pregnant. Seppuku didn't bother to reload his rifle, as it had become clear to him that the strange shadow-like creatures they were fighting could only be killed by pure light; the muzzle flash of his rifle was their only defense.

"I'm really scared, can't we call Jody Summer for help?" asked Chiya.

Seppuku lashed his head at Chiya's hiding face, "I would rather live with these creatures than having that bat help me."

Earl sighed and patted Chiya's head, "Let's be honest, she wouldn't help us either way."

She shook her head franticly, not moving an inch away from Earl, "I can't believe I have to go through this crap, just to be an F-Zero racer…"

Earl sighed and continued to pat her head, Seppuku momentarily growled and forcibly pulled Chiya away from him, "Shut up Chiya, whining won't get us anywhere."

She closed her eyes and nodded after swallowing, Seppuku tapped his foot constantly as he looked around the hallway. Earl was looking back at his room wondering if there would be anything in there that could help them fight.

"So you say we need light to kill these things?"

Seppuku nodded affirmatively, "We have my rifle and that glow stick."

Chiya slowly raised her hand, "I- I'd very much like a gun, please?"

Seppuku snickered at her, "In case you haven't noticed, the door to the armory is gone."

The three stared at the wall that once had a door, the wall that replaced it looked perfectly sanded and painted. Chiya grabbed her forehead and groaned in fear, she then put her hand on the now-large belly she had. _Why does Black Shadow want me to suffer so much..?_ she thought sadly. She shivered and began to silently whimper at the darkness that surrounded the three, she knew that the hallway was the only place that currently didn't hold a shadow beast. She silently grabbed Earl's sleeve and began to bite her finger with widened eyes, Seppuku still hadn't established a plan of action. Earl and Chiya then jolted up in shock as a loud screech could be heard coming from Chiya's room, not long after the screech Chiya had gasped and let go of Earl.

"Mauser!"

She forcibly stole the glow light out of Earl's hand and began charging towards her room quickly. Earl and Seppuku both grunted and began chasing her.

"Chiya, stop!" yelled Earl.

Chiya had already kicked open the door with a furious look, she was immediately confronted with the horrifying image of Mauser against the wall with his back up-hissing at a dark large spider-like human. Chiya felt a shock go through her spine at the sight of the disturbing mutated creature crawling towards Mauser, but she yelled at it furiously instead of retreating.

"Leave Mauser alone!" she screamed at it, she then ran up to the creature and began swinging the light at its head constantly, "Don't hurt my little Mauser you freak!"

Mauser continued to hiss at the monster as it quickly began to evaporate from the light. Seppuku and Earl ran in momentarily and found Chiya on the flour bashing the creature to death with the light-though she wasn't actually touching it, as her hand would go right through it. Earl grunted at Chiya with a disturbed look, but was surprised to see that Chiya was clearly winning the fight; Seppuku had a similar look. The creature finally collapsed and began to fade away-dead.

"Holy crap Chiya, you tamed that thing…" muttered Earl.

Chiya immediately ran up to Mauser and grabbed him, dropping the light on the floor. She planted her face into his fur and began to hug him tightly while cradling him back and forth. Earl managed to break a smile at the heartwarming love she had for Mauser, even if they were in a dark situation. Seppuku rubbed the back of his head in amazement at Chiya.

"So that cat really triggered Flower off…"

Earl nodded and picked up the glow stick, "She loves her pet, nothing wrong with that at all."

Chiya stood up with Mauser and gave the two are fearful look, "I can't leave Mauser here, we need to figure out how to solve this situation from my room."

Seppuku groaned and approached her, "For God sakes…" he then grabbed Mauser out of her hands and held him next to his rifle, "He'll be safe with me."

Chiya nodded, "Th- thank you."

Earl smirked and rubbed his head, "Well hold on a minute, Chiya seems to have killed that thing pretty easily, are we actually in a situation?"

Chiya placed her finger on her lip and contemplated about this, Seppuku crossed his arms together, "The fact remains, we need to escape-and these things are holding us off."

Chiya and Earl nodded in agreement, Chiya then put her hand on her belly, "God, I really need a doctor…"

"Just hold on Chi', the first minute we get out of this Hellhole I'm taking you to one."

Seppuku shook his fist at Earl, "First we deal with Skull…"

"That's your mission, Chiya is priority one for me."

Seppuku growled at him and tapped his foot constantly, Mauser was trapped in Seppuku's grasp-clearly wanting to escape, but Chiya was going to allow Seppuku to keep holding him.

"We'll see what happens, let's get moving."

Chiya went over to her table and picked up her personal handgun, she then widened her eyes and smiled, "Hey wait a minute, I have a taser on my gun-will that help?"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her, "Depends, fire it once."

She then fired a bolt off of her gun into the air, it immediately left a two second strobe light throughout the room. Earl grinned at her, "Looks like an anti-freak weapon to me."

Seppuku then pushed Chiya and Earl together forcibly, Chiya blinked a few times at Earl, then looked at Seppuku in confusion, "Let's split up, you two head back to the garage and get the door opened manually-I'll see if I can get the emergency roof exit opened in my office."

Chiya gasped and shook her head negatively, "No, we need to stay together!"

Seppuku shrugged at her, "This is a better plan, one of us is sure to find some way out."

Earl rubbed his chin in confusion, "But Seppuku, you don't even have a light."

"Don't need one, my vision is good enough-and I have a rifle to defend me and the fleabag with."

Chiya bit her lip and looked at the frightened Mauser, she then sighed and nodded, "You keep my little kitty safe Seppuku," demanded Chiya.

Seppuku nodded affirmatively at her, "Very well, let's go team."

He then opened the door-but was confronted by the horrifying image of a shadow beast standing in front of the door. Chiya screamed and leapt back behind Earl, Seppuku grunted and immediately blew into the creatures face with his rifle. The creature momentarily fell down and began to fade away into the darkness. Chiya was trembling in fear behind Earl with her gun trained at the door, she began to shake her head in disbelief.

"This is God awful!" she complained.

"We'll make it, just stay vigilant-we've yet to see what kind of powers these things have."

Earl exhaled and walked up towards the door with the light, "Let's get going before more come."

Chiya swallowed nervously but followed him closely, Seppuku continued to hold the door for them. Earl and Chiya hesitantly stepped out into the hallway, but it seemed clear of anything unusual.

Chiya pointed at Earl's door slowly, "Anything in there that might help?"

Earl shook his head negatively at her, Seppuku then grabbed Earl's shoulder-instantly startling him, "Bendek," Earl was then handed a lighter, he looked up at Seppuku with a raised eyebrow, "Fire is light, I'm sure you can put this to use if you're being overwhelmed."

Earl chuckled at the lighter, "I don't think this little flame will be powerful enough to kill anything."

"Then start a fire, but don't burn down my base right away-only if necessary."

Earl nodded and put the lighter in his coat pocket, "I'll keep an eye out for flammable things."

Seppuku began walking towards his office but looked back at Chiya, "I bet her hair is flammable, cut it off if needed."

Chiya then gasped and grabbed her hair, "Yo- you're joking, right?"

Seppuku didn't respond, he simply began walking towards his office again. Chiya exhaled and turned around with Earl, beginning to walk the other direction. The two slowly entered the lobby again, Earl held the light in front of him as he scanned the room for any danger, Chiya unsteadily held her handgun in front of her-her finger tapping the taser button constantly. Earl proceeded through the door and came to a stop at the wall where the exit should be.

"Damn, what the Hell is going on around here…" he muttered in frustration.

Chiya sighed, "That's not fair, we had to spend a lot of money on that door."

"Actually, Jody Summer did."

Chiya gasped and widened her eyes in fear at the sound of a creaking noise, Earl gritted his teeth and looked up-noticing that the sound came from the ceiling.

"Something is on the roof," answered Earl.

Chiya widened her eyes, "Maybe Seppuku got the roof exit open."

Earl lowered his eyebrows and rubbed his chin, "There's no way he already got up…"

Chiya turned her head towards the garage door and swallowed nervously, "I'd bet that the garage is full of those things…"

"'fraid that's where we're going."

Chiya and Earl slowly approached the garage door and prepared for combat, they had yet to see what kind of danger these creatures actually possessed. Earl began to reach out for the doorknob with a look of fear-Chiya bit her lip nervously and grabbed his hand again. He jolted up immediately as she did this, he then looked back at her and smirked.

"Sorry, it's just-"

"Nah, it's fine."

Earl then jerked the doorknob, momentarily opening it all the way. The two walked in very slowly, Chiya had a very concentrated look-she knew that they weren't alone in the garage. They began to walk down towards the _Purring Kitten_, Chiya was somewhat surprised at the sight of goose bumps on her arm. The two stood silently next to the _Purring Kitten_, Chiya and Earl were constantly turning their heads to scan the garage-it was too large for Earl's light to completely illuminate. Chiya began to tremble again as she stared at the _Purring Kitten_, both were completely silent. The moment was then broken as a few loud screeching noises could be heard from all directions-Chiya and Earl were immediately sent into a state of shock.

"Oh God! I don't wanna' die! Not like this!" panicked Chiya.

Earl grinded his teeth with widened eyes and held the glow stick like a knife, "Chiya get your gun ready."

He then grunted as Chiya painfully squeezed his hand tightly, he immediately tried breaking free of her grasp-but found that she didn't intend on letting him go. Earl grunted angrily as he tugged his hand back, but Chiya locked their hands together firmly-Earl and Chiya both could see sharp red eyes beginning to surround them from the darkness.

"Ch- Chiya let me go!"

She shook her head constantly and began to hyperventilate, "N- No! I don't want to!"

He growled and got in a combat stance, "Dammit Chiya, this isn't a good time to get attached to my hand!"

Chiya would need a loose hand if she were to press the taser button on her gun, but she was being stubborn out of fear, "I- I don't want to let go, I feel safe-"

"Drop the damn hand or all three of us die here!"

Chiya gasped and looked down at her belly, forgetting about the possible child she may be carrying. She quickly let go of Earl and put both hands on her handgun, Earl nodded at her and backed up towards the _Purring Kitten_.

Earl punched Chiya's shoulder, "You're the one with a taser, send these demons back to Hell!"

She held her handgun unsteadily at the group of approaching shadow beasts, then fired a bolt at one of them. The light from the taser instantly sent the entire room flashing, but only for a few moments-all the creatures were harmed, but not destroyed by the flash. Earl grunted and shook his head negatively.

"Crap…"

Chiya fired once again at a shadow beast, this time it fell down dead and faded away, but the others were only becoming weaker by the flash. Earl momentarily shouted challengingly and ran up to one, a shock of fear was instantly sent into his body at the sight the creatures face-but he thrust his glow stick into the creatures skull. The creature fell down dead, but Earl was being closed in on by another creature.

"Look out!" yelled Chiya.

She immediately ran up to the creature and began firing her gun blankly in its direction-too scared to look directly at it. The creature was killed quickly, but now there were three bullets flying wall-to-wall.

"Jesus!" yelled Earl as he got down quickly.

Chiya ducked her head as the bullets ran across the garage constantly, momentarily the sound of a window being shattered could be heard. Earl looked up slowly, he was on the floor.

"That better not have hit my car, I don-" he then looked up and found the very insect looking human towering over him, "Sweet Jesus!" he yelled as he quickly dropped the glow stick and began to cower in fear.

Chiya gasped and quickly fired her taser at the creature, it was immediately halted-but she had somewhat hit Earl as well.

"What the He-ell Chiya!" groaned Earl as he began to curl up on the ground.

Chiya growled and ran up to the creature, she picked up the glow stick and stabbed the shadow beast through the neck, instantly killing it. Chiya began to hyperventilate again out of fear and spun around, thankfully there was no more shadow beasts in the immediate area. She then got down on her knees and grabbed Earl's shoulder, he still had a few sparks going along his face, he had his teeth gritted and eyes closed as he held his arm constantly-Chiya had shocked him in the arm.

"Earl, I'm so sorry!" He didn't respond, merely groaning some more as he rolled back and forth-his hair was now extra ruffled, "I- I didn't mean to hit you I swear!"

He bit his lip and exhaled, he then began to rub his shoulder as it was under intense burning, Chiya's eyes began to water as she shook her head, "I really didn't want to do that! I was just scar-"

"It's fine Chiya, as long as the bastards dead."

Chiya held the glow stick up to his arm and helped get his arm out of his coat, she then rolled up his sleeve to look at his shoulder, "Oh God, that _must_ be a first degree burn, I- I'm so sorry!"

Earl sat up and grunted as he held the burn mark, "I said it's fine," he said somewhat coldly.

She gritted her teeth and dipped her head, "I'm sor-"

"Let's just get this door open."

Earl put his arm back in his coat and grabbed Chiya's hand again, though she immediately retreated from the grasp and shook her head negatively, "I'm fine."

Earl smirked at her and began walking towards the large garage door, Chiya held her handgun up cautiously and continued to scan the room. He kneeled over at the door and rubbed his chin, then rubbed his shoulder again.

"I don't see what Seppuku expects us to do, behind this door is technically a wall-since we disguise the door to look like one from the outside." Chiya walked over to the door control panel and clicked the on switch a few times, but to no avail, "Not gonna' work without power."

Chiya growled and stomped her foot down, "Well where the Heck is the power then?"

"Dunno', but Skull must be playing some kind of game with us-there's no way he came in here and replaced our doors by himself."

"B- but how did he get in at all?"

Earl kicked the garage door and shook his head negatively, "Your guess is as good as mine."

Chiya and Earl were then caught off guard and jolted up in fear at the sound of ambient chuckling-it was The Skull. Chiya immediately grabbed Earl's hand again and began to whimper in fear, Earl made a slight gasp and brushed his hair as he looked up at the ceiling.

"If you guys simply kill each other, then the last one standing may go free-why is this so hard?"

Earl lowered his eyebrows and growled, "Not gonna' happen! It'll take a lot more than shadow puppets to make us kill each other!" Chiya nodded franticly in agreement.

"Then it is time to bring out your worst fears…"

Chiya and Earl both widened their eyes as a strange blowing sound could be heard going throughout the base, Chiya began to tremble in fear and momentarily held her arms while shivering.

"Di- did it just get a lot colder all of a sudden?"

Earl slowly nodded, "Ye-eah, it did…"

The two were suddenly confronted with a disturbing sound-tinkering noises, thousands of slimy sounds could be heard following this. Chiya gritted her teeth and looked up at Earl, he had his eyebrows lowered and was staying beside her against the garage door. The large swarm of slimy tinkering noises were getting louder-making it clear that something was coming in a mass amount. Chiya then screamed at the sight of a large shadow-like spider, it was about the size of their feet. Earl gasped and immediately stomped on it-but his foot went right through the spider.

"Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" Chiya panicked looking away from him.

Earl quickly dropped down and smashed the spider with the glow stick-the legs broke off as if it had actually be crushed, it then faded away. Chiya had completely widened eyes as she looked at Earl.

"That's way too much for me, I can't stand spiders! I hate em', they're evil and disgusting and-"

Earl then dropped his mouth and gasped, immediately grabbing Chiya's arm, "Sweet Jesus…"

Chiya then turned around and screamed in horror-there were thousands of similar looking spiders swarming right towards them, there were also centipede looking insects. Chiya began to bounce off her feet constantly as she screamed in horror, Earl looked at his glow stick in horror-realizing that he could never kill every insect.

"God no! God no!" she screamed as she wrapped her arms around Earl instantly, she had one of her legs curled around his as she continued to panic.

Earl began to tremble out of fear as well, but momentarily grabbed Chiya's rear and threw her over his shoulder, "We're leaving!"

Chiya continued to hyperventilate and scream softly as Earl began to carry her right over the swarms of insects-he was trying to hop over the swarm as he made his way to the lobby door. Chiya blindly fired her taser behind her, hoping to kill the massive amounts of insects, but it only slowed them down. Chiya began to hyperventilate as she looked back at the insects-her worst phobia was chasing them in the thousands, not to mention the insects were as large as her face.

Earl kicked open the door to the lobby and immediately shut it behind him, praying that this would stop the insects. He ran down the center of the lobby and shined his light back at the door for a few moments. Chiya then gasped and pointed in front of him, Earl turned and found that nearly six shadow beasts were surrounding them.

"My God!" yelled Earl.

They were quickly being closed onto, he then shined the light back at the door and found that spiders were going right through the door. Earl growled nervously-not knowing what to do. Chiya then lifted her handgun up and began firing the taser at the shadow beasts, Earl nodded and lifted up the glow stick-immediately running up to one and stabbing it. Earl was beginning to pant from exhaustion, he then stabbed another shadow beast as Chiya fired at the other ones. The insects were quickly closing into them however, there were easily enough to fill up the entire floor.

"Can I let you down now!?"

Chiya shook her head franticly, "Not a bloody chance! You can hold whatever part of my body you feel is necessary, but I'm staying up here!"

Earl didn't complain, simply looking at the door leading to the hallway, Chiya flailed her hand towards the door as she fired at the insects. Many of the insects were immediately dropped dead by the shock, but not even a percent of them were dead.

"Come on! Let's get to Seppuku's office!" ordered Chiya.

Earl grunted and pulled her up over his shoulder more firmly, he then charged towards the door while panting. Chiya fired at the group of insects again, hoping to merely slow them down. Earl kicked open the door and charged down the hallway after shutting the door, he was making a straight run down the center in hopes to regroup with Seppuku.

"Go, go, go, go!" yelled Chiya.

Earl gritted his teeth as he tried to stay calm for the sake of Chiya's sanity, he was then stopped at the sight of something that terrified him. Chiya gasped as well, there were well over ten shadow beasts walking towards them from Seppuku's office-a very tall normal looking man without any facial features as looking at them. Chiya gasped again and began to kick Earl's leg.

"Come on! Why are we just standing here!?"

Earl had very wide eyes and was standing still traumatized, looking straight into the face of the tall man-for whatever the reason, Chiya was collecting that this man was Earl's worst fear. Earl was completely frozen, the tall man was simply having a stare down with him as the shadow beasts came towards them slowly.

"Earl! Wake the Hell up!"

Earl now had his teeth clenched with quivering eyes, he was stunned.

"Oh for the love of-"

Chiya then pulled out her handgun and fired a lightning bolt straight into the man's skull-he faded away moments after. Earl shook his head and grunted, "Oh God, wha- what the Hell?"

Earl grasped Chiya more tightly and backed away from the approaching shadow beasts, he then looked back and found that thousands of insects were closing in on them-they had only so many rooms they could run to at this point.

"Seppuku!" Chiya desperately yelled.

"Shut up Chiya, he's as good as dead!"

Chiya gasped and shook her head in disbelief, "Oh my God…"

Earl put the glow stick into his mouth and grabbed the taser out of Chiya's hand, he then charged right into a few of the shadow beasts and made an immediate turn into Chiya's room. Earl immediately dropped Chiya off of his back and gave her back the handgun.

"This is it, our last stand…"

Chiya gasped and grabbed Earl's shoulder, "No, we can't die here…"

Earl pushed her back onto her bed, she blinked at him a few times in shock, "Wha-"

"Stay on your bed, I'll die before I let these bastards touch you…"

Chiya gasped and shook her head negatively, "No Earl! We have to find a way out of here!"

"It's too late, face it-our best shot is if someone like Jody Summer comes looking for us, but we can't keep this up forever…"

Chiya's eyes began to water, she then wiped her eye and hesitantly nodded, "I- I don't want to die yet…"

Earl turned his head away from her and dipped his head down, "There is one way you can make it out of here…"

Chiya widened her eyes and stared at him, he sighed and held his hand behind his back, "Seppuku is probably dead, meaning you and me are all that's left," he then swallowed and looked up at the door, "Kill me."

Chiya gasped in horror at his proposal, "But- I-"

"If you kill me, you'll be the last one standing-Skull will let you go and you can continue your new life as an F-Zero racer."

Chiya shook her head negatively, "I couldn't kill you, I don't want to…"

A shadow beast entered the room, but Earl almost instantly stabbed it against the door, he then growled and looked back at her, "You can save yourself, just do it!"

Chiya continued to shake her head negatively, "No!"

"Yes!"

Chiya stomped her foot down on her bed, "I'd never be able to forgive myself, I'd probably end up killing myself out of guilt!"

"Do it, that's an order as your F-Zero manager."

Chiya gasped at Earl, he was refusing to look at her-simply standing against the door waiting for the approaching horde. Chiya bit her lip sadly with watery eyes and touched her pregnant belly, she then shut her eyes after making her very fateful decision.

Earl narrowed his eyes sadly as he heard Chiya reload her handgun, the room was silent. Earl closed his eyes tightly as his mouth began to quiver, next the sound of Chiya cocking her handgun could be heard behind him. Earl exhaled and put his legs together bravely.

"I die so she can live…" he muttered calmly to himself. He then heard Chiya get off the bed and get closer behind him, "So be it, I've accomplished my mission to protect her…" he concluded as he clenched his fists.

Without a single word, he waited for Chiya to kill him. She put her hand on his shoulder and stepped next to him with her gun trained at the door.

"We die together, remember?"

Earl then opened his right eye and looked at the smiling Chiya in awe, "Wha-"

"You always say that to me, so now is a better time than ever to say it back to you."

Earl gasped and momentarily grinned at her, he then nodded at her, "God I love you…"

Chiya smiled at him and placed her hand off of his shoulder, she didn't bother consider whether this was said romantically or out of friendship-all she knew was that Earl was the only person she'd want to die with.

At that moment more shadow beasts came walking into the room, followed by a few spiders. Chiya gasped in horror at the creatures, but began rapidly firing her taser at the creatures-they were all completely stunned as she constantly clicked the taser. Earl began to smash some of the insects on the ground-but then gasped.

"Wait!"

Chiya continued to keep the creatures still-killing most of the shadow beasts, Earl then grabbed Chiya's hand and kicked open the door-there were thousands of spiders approaching Chiya's door.

"Oh God! What are you doing!?"

Earl then charged towards the spiders and leaped past them all back into the hallway, he quickly looked back at Chiya while bouncing over the large amounts of spiders, "Trust me! You need to come with me!"

Chiya began to tremble and backed up while tasering the huge amount of spiders, "I- I can't!"

"Trust me Chiya! I have one more plan of action!"

Chiya looked into Earl's eyes and lowered her eyebrows, she then puckered her lips nervously, _When has he ever been wrong..?_ she thought bravely.

She then charged towards the insects and closed her eyes as she got right up to them, she leaped up towards them and ended up running right into Earl's door. She immediately opened her eyes as Earl grabbed her hand again and began running down the hallway with her. She gasped as they were completely surrounded by creatures, Seppuku's door was still particularly swarmed with shadow beasts-but Earl wasn't taking her there. Earl kicked open the bathroom door and threw her inside before himself, he then closed the door quickly behind them. Chiya looked around the bathroom quickly for what he was planning to do.

"How is this any bette-"

"Tampons! Where do ya' keep them!?"

Chiya gasped at him, then lowered her eyebrows somewhat disturbed, "U-uh, upper drawer…"  
Earl quickly opened the drawer under the sink and pulled out a large box of tampons, he then ran over to the shower and grabbed the curtain. Chiya's eye was twitching as he seemed to know what he was doing.

"What in the world are you doing with my, uh-monthlies?"

Earl placed the shower curtain down around the door and began to dump the tampons across it. Chiya gasped and looked back up at Earl.

"You're not gonna'-"

"Let em' burn!" yelled Earl as he pulled out the lighter Seppuku gave him.

Earl immediately lit a few of the tampons, which immediately began to burn the curtain as a result. Chiya widened her eyes as insects began to come through the door-but just as Earl had planned, they were walking straight into the shield of fire-dying instantly.

Earl continued to pull random things out onto the curtain in an attempt to keep the fire going, Chiya momentarily nodded and did the same. Medicine, cardboard, papers, it was all being thrown onto the fire-many of the insects were running right into the flames and dying upon contact. Earl looked up in front of the mirror and widened his eyes at the sight of something.

"What the-"

He then grabbed Chiya's shoulders and held her up at the mirror, "Chiya…"

She raised an eyebrow at him and stared at the mirror in confusion, it was then that she widened her eyes at her own image-she wasn't pregnant in the mirror.

Earl turned her around, but the mirror wasn't showing the same pregnant belly they were seeing in reality.

"Oh my God, what is this!?" asked Chiya as she immediately began touching her belly.

She felt like she was pressing against a large belly, but the mirror portrayed her as touching her usual flat belly. Earl was so distracted on the mirror that he had forgotten to keep the fire going-the curtain had completely burnt away.

"Oh shoot!"

Chiya began to fire her taser at the group, "What a night this has been…"

Earl gritted his teeth as a shadow beast approached him, but he had then caught yet another strange thing, once again he was looking into the mirror-but the shadow beast was nowhere to be seen in the reflection. Earl narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin as the shadow beast approached him with several other insects behind it.

"Wait a minute…" he muttered.

Chiya was hyperventilating, "What're you doing Earl!? Kill it!"

Earl stepped back by Chiya and grabbed her handgun, she gasped at him as he then backed away from her.

"Earl!"

"Trust me."

Earl then got against the wall and allowed the shadow beast to move towards Chiya along with the insects. Chiya gasped and looked back at him furiously, "What are you doing!? I'm going to die!"

Earl didn't respond, he simply held his hand out towards her ordering her to remain still. She shook her head in disbelief at him, "I can't believe you! I could have killed you and went free, and now you're going to screw _me_ over!?"

"Trust me."

She began to scream as she was completely cornered by the shadow beast and insects, she took one last look at Earl before she was completely face-to-face with the shadow beast.

"Earl, I beg of you!"

"Trust me…" said Earl as he aimed the handgun at the shadow beast.

Chiya began to scream as the shadow beast stopped in front of her, the spiders were now swarming around her feet. She continued to scream in horror, realizing that hundreds of spiders were now swarming around her body, the shadow beast was remaining in front of her with a ferocious stare.

"Earl, I l-"

She then felt him grab her hand, she opened her eye and found that the red eyes of the shadow beast was right against hers-but she could see Earl standing right behind it with a smirk. Chiya began to hyperventilate as she looked down at her feet, she was horrified at all of the spiders around her-but they weren't doing anything. She looked back up at Earl who now had a grin.

"Earl, help me!"

Earl chuckled at her and simply pulled her forward, she went right through the shadow beast with ease-but it responded with a threatening hiss. Chiya jolted up and gasped at the shadow beast, but Earl surprisingly laughed at the creature.

"It was a good ride, but I think I've figured out this puzzle…"

Chiya's eyes were watery, she then forced herself onto his chest in fear, wrapping her arms around him. Earl smiled at her and patted her back, "We're gonna' be okay Chiya, do you have a mirror in your room?"

She looked up at him in confusion and nodded, "Y- yes?"

The two had ran back to Chiya's room, she quickly opened up a drawer and pulled out a pink mirror, Earl smirked at her and took it out of her hand.

"We're outta' here!"

"How is a mirror gonna' get us out of here?"

Earl began walking proudly with her out of the room, there were spiders completely swarming their feet at this point, Chiya was now convinced as well that these things couldn't harm them at all.

"The mirror's the key, we can now leave the base."

Chiya tilted her head in confusion, "U-um, except the doors are gone…"

Earl turned his head towards her and grinned, "Are they?"

He turned his head and was confronted with three shadow beasts, they began to growl at him-but Earl simply got a frustrated look and swiped his glow stick at the three.

"Eh, shut up…" he said easily killing the three.

Chiya and Earl reentered the lobby with the mirror, the many creatures following them from behind. Earl then walked up to the blank wall with a smile, he then looked at the mirror and began using it to scan the wall. Chiya raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"Are you crazy?"

Earl then widened his eyes and got a gleeful smile, he then backed up towards the wall without looking at it-as he was concentrated on the mirror. He reached back towards the wall, and just like that, he opened the door. Chiya gasped as he had opened an invisible door, but none-the-less, it was the same exit that was usually there.

"Freedom…" Earl muttered

Both Earl and Chiya gasped as their shoulders were grabbed physically-not by a shadow beast. Chiya screamed and spun around, but got an amazingly happy look on her face-it was Seppuku.

"You're alive!"

Earl exhaled in relief, Seppuku had a furious look on his face. "Good work Bendek, now-I have a bone to pick…"

The three took a step outside, it was just starting to light up outside as it was early in the morning. Chiya and Earl both walked outside and beamed at each other, they then hugged each other-but Earl immediately widened his eyes. He then looked down at Chiya and grinned.

"Looks like you won't be a mother any time soon…"

Chiya then gasped and looked down at her belly-it was back to normal. She exhaled in relief and smiled at him, "I can't believe you figured that out, you are officially the smartest person I have ever met…"

Earl shrugged happily at her, "Eh, I'm just a mechanic…"

The Skull was rubbing his chin as he walked across the roof of the base, his dark cloak was blowing in the air as he clenched his fist angrily.

"What's going on? Where are they!?" he muttered angrily.

Skull began to tap his foot down constantly, for reasons beyond him-he could no longer pick up either of the three's trace. Skull then clapped his hands together, "Maybe they all committed suicide!" he thought excitedly.

Suddenly from the edge of the roof, came Seppuku-who had an expertise in climbing buildings. The Skull was looking down at the _Sonic Phantom_, which he had parked just to the side of the base. He was standing on the edge of the building tapping his chin with no knowledge of Seppuku's presence. Seppuku stood from the other side of the roof and smirked, he then held up his long rifle and aimed at The Skull.

"The curtains close…" said Seppuku.

The Skull immediately spun around and let out a frantic shout, "What!?"

Seppuku then fired once at him-easily breaking off his entire left arm, Skull immediately tumbled off the building right onto the _Sonic Phantom_. Immediately after doing this, a purple mist came off of the building and chased Skull down to the _Sonic Phantom_-the curse had been broken. Seppuku slowly approached the edge of the roof, but was immediately met with the image of the F-Zero machine driving away quickly. Seppuku's coat and scarf blew in the air as The Skull escaped-Seppuku then looked down at the severed arm and grinned.

"A trophy, nice…"

About an hour later, all the lights were on and everyone was exhausted both from running around the base, and staying up so late. Chiya and Earl sat in the kitchen together, both clearly worn out. Chiya smiled at him and raised her finger, "That was the scariest thing I've ever encountered…"

Earl nodded, "So silly, the creatures weren't what we needed to worry about-it was each other."

Chiya nodded at him, "Very clever of Skull, we would have all killed each other just to escape the horrors-but we were never in any danger."

"Exactly," he then gave her a thumbs up, "Thank you for not killing me…"

Chiya smiled and shrugged at him, taking a sip from a cup of coffee, "Eh, my life would suck without you anyways, I mean-I'd probably smash the Purring Kitten up during the Grand Prix, and just like that I'd be minus an F-Zero machine…"

"You wouldn't go get it repaired?"

Chiya laughed at him, "With what? Money? I'm a bum, always have been…"

Earl smiled and dipped his head at her, "Well, once again, you've proven just how loyal you are to our friendship."

Chiya nodded at him, "Same."

Seppuku then kicked open the door with Skull's arm in his hand, "Hey guys, check this out!"

Chiya immediately cringed at the arm, "I presume he's dead?"

Seppuku glanced away from her, "Uh, not exactly…"

Chiya silently chuckled and looked back at Earl, Seppuku was looking at him as well, "Earl, wanna' watch a horror film later? I'm really in the mood for one now."

Earl shrugged at him, "I guess, as long as Chiya doesn't feel hurt that we're doing this without her."

Chiya dipped her head down, then nodded at them, "Trust me, after that-I think I can handle a horror film, so count me in."

Earl grinned at her, but Seppuku growled in disapproval, he then threw the arm onto Chiya's lap, "Get some sleep, both of you-you look awful."

Chiya exhaled, then widened her eyes, "Where's Mauser!?"

Seppuku jolted his head up, "Oh, yeah…" he then unbuttoned his coat halfway and reached in-momentarily pulling out Mauser, "Here you go."

To be continued…


	30. Lap 29

==Lap 29=

At long last the day had passed and it was now late in the afternoon, both Chiya and Earl had gotten little sleep on the account of The Skull's attack. Chiya specifically hadn't gotten much sleep, as she had been combating her sexual urges the past night. Seppuku made no attempt to sleep after the attack, he remained awake throughout the morning and was doing work related matters at his desk. Chiya slowly began to open her eyes and smiled, she exhaled in relief to see that everything was normal again. She sat up and found that the front of her room was now fairly messy-as Earl and Chiya had fought many of the shadow creatures from the door.

"I can't believe I didn't have a nightmare…" she muttered aloud.

Chiya then widened her eyes as she felt something on her right cheek-she gasped and got off her bed while trembling.

"Oh God!" she panicked.

She then covered her right cheek with her hand and began to quickly approach the door, she very roughly thrust it open and was now whimpering. _This can't be happening-not today!_ she thought franticly as she moved to the bathroom. She quickly looked over at Earl's room and found that the door was closed and dark underneath-he was still asleep. Looking across the hallway she could see that for once the office door was wide opened, Seppuku hadn't noticed her, he was sitting in his desk. Chiya shook her head negatively and immediately rushed into the bathroom, she immediately stepped on several ashes-getting her socks dirty. She immediately growled in frustration at this and continued towards the mirror. She hesitantly turned her head and began to move her hand away from her cheek.

Earl and Seppuku were both alarmed at the very obnoxiously loud scream of frustration that pursued Chiya. Earl widened his eyes and jolted up, he gasped and looked at his door.

"Ch- Chiya!"

Chiya was leaning over at the mirror in horror, now digging around the drawers for something franticly. Seppuku moments after Chiya screamed ran into the bathroom, Earl followed not much later, he didn't have his coat on.

"What the Hell is it Flower?" asked Seppuku.

Chiya was whimpering sadly while pouting and slowly turned her head towards him, "What do you think's wrong?" she asked hostilely.

Seppuku and Earl both stared at her for a few moments, then looked at each other in confusion. It was obvious that she wasn't in any danger, rather it was yet another insignificant problem-like the spider. Earl began to hum in confusion, he then squinted at her and raised an eyebrow at the sight of something.

Before Earl could answer, Chiya pointed at her cheek, "I have a freaking pimple on my face!"

Earl smirked at her, "That's it?"

Chiya gasped and gritted her teeth at him, "_That's it?_ I'm hideous right now!"

Earl sighed and shook his head negatively, "You're overreacting, besides, it's normal to get pimples."

Chiya flailed her hands angrily, "Yeah, when I was a teenager! I thought I was done with this rubbish!"

Earl swished his hand at her, Seppuku then began to chuckle at her misfortune, "Just pop it, who cares."

Chiya stuck her tongue out in disgust and made a grunting noise, "I don't want all of that to get over my face and fingers!"

Earl sighed again, "Chiya you drama queen…"

Seppuku slapped his leg and began to laugh at her, Chiya narrowed her eyes at Seppuku angrily. He pointed at her face while still laughing, "Poor Flower, won't be getting Bendek's kiss on that cheek!" he joked.

Chiya growled at him and stomped her foot down, "Shut up, how can I get rid of this without blowing it up?"

Seppuku then held up two fingers and began clamping them together, he began walking towards Chiya slowly, "I have gloves on, I'll just pop it myself."

Earl got a disgusted look on his face and held his throat, Chiya immediately gasped and began backing away. "Get away from me Seppuku! Sick man!"

Seppuku continued to move towards Chiya, she backed up against the bathtub and shook her head negatively at him in fear. Seppuku continued moving towards her, "I'll be damned if I'm gonna' listen to you complain about this zit for the next days…"

"Stop it Seppuku! Get away!"

Earl then decided to intervene on Chiya's side and grabbed Seppuku's arm, he began to pull Seppuku-but he was still progressing towards Chiya easily. She leaped inside of the tub as a final line of defense, she was holding her cheek with widened eyes. Chiya gritted her teeth and turned on the shower as a defense, within seconds both Seppuku and Chiya was getting showered on-Earl was grabbing Seppuku from behind the tub. Chiya got up against the wall as a last resort and cringed at him.

"No Seppuku, no, no, no!"

Earl pulled with all his might, but somehow couldn't stop Seppuku-Seppuku then grabbed Chiya and forced her down onto her back. Chiya began to scream and kick her legs constantly as Seppuku forcibly grabbed her head, he had her laying in a thin layer of water that had already built up in the tub.

"Oh God stop, stop!"

Earl stuck his head in the tub and grabbed Seppuku's shoulders, "Seppuku! Don't do it!"

Chiya continued to kick her legs wildly in the air as Seppuku grabbed her face, Earl was looking at her hand which was tightly holding the side of the tub-as she screamed and panicked, her grasp of the tub became much tighter, the veins in her hand somewhat popping. Chiya began to moan in agony and began kicking down constantly, Seppuku began to push down on her more roughly-Chiya momentarily let out a cry of agony and immediately gritted her teeth in pain; her feet were now perfectly still. Earl widened his eyes as she looked at Chiya, she momentarily exhaled in pain and opened her eyes. Seppuku continued to hold her face, then momentarily rubbed water on her right cheek. Chiya began to shiver and glanced away from Seppuku's face with an embarrassed look.

"Th- thanks…"

Chiya and Seppuku were both soaked by the shower, Seppuku turned it off and stepped out of the tub. Chiya immediately stood up and tucked her wet hair into her stock hat. Chiya rubbed her cheek after stepping out of the tub, she grunted immediately after and closed her eyes in somewhat shame.

Earl raised his eyebrows and let out a high pitched chuckle at her, "Hey uh, I was thinking that we should- well first of all, you should go get changed, I can see yo-our…"

Chiya widened her eyes and looked down, finding that her shirt had become transparent-luckily she had a bra on.

She held her chest and blushed with an offended look, "Earl you pervert…"

Earl turned towards the door and began walking away while chuckling, "Me, a pervert? You're one to talk after that little _business_ you had with me and my upper body."

Chiya let out a slight squeal and immediately glanced away from him, "Uh, okay I'll see you in a bit then!" she responded franticly.

Chiya came out of her room a few minutes later with her usual attire-only she was wearing a cream green colored sweatshirt. Not only was she not wearing her usual grey turtleneck shirt, but she wasn't wearing her green stock hat for once. Chiya stretched and let out a smile, momentarily walking into Earl's room. She took a few steps into his room and stomped her foot down loudly.

"Alright, what'd you want to do with me?" she asked aloud, looking around the room for Earl.

She then slightly gasped at the sight of Earl, who was standing near his closet in his military dress uniform. Earl slowly turned around and blinked at her a few times, she responded by swallowing with an intense stare. The uniform he was wearing was a solid color with two red stripes going up the pants. He had a leather brown belt tightly strapped around his waist, golden buttons, and two rank insignias on his collar. Earl hesitantly tilted his visor cap at her.

"The café, but Seppuku had just informed me of something that came up…"

Chiya held her mouth and shook her head franticly, "Oh my God, you haven't been drafted, have you?"

Earl shook his head negatively, "The Emperor of Japan was sent a message by the Korean government, who then forwarded the message to Jody, who forwarded the message to Seppuku." He cleared his throat and put his feet together calmly, he then stood perfectly still with a blank expression, "I've been called back to Korea to meet with the Manchurian head of state."

Chiya widened her eyes and bit her lip, "But wait, I thought you won the civil war, how can Manchuria have a leader?"

"While Manchuria does once again belong to Korea, Manchuria remains with a spokesman, the leader doesn't make the rules though-only the leader of Korea has that authority."

Chiya let out a snort, "Well what's with the get up? Why would you go back somewhere you're hated?"

Earl exhaled and licked his lips, "The point is for me to apologize to the Manchurian populace at long last, this is my one chance and I want to take it."

Chiya dipped her head down sadly and twirled her foot around slowly, "So-o, you're not leaving m- the organization to live in Korea, are you?"

Earl smiled at her, "But I live for honor, to protect those I love-and I love Korea, I would gladly apologize for my past aggression against the Manchurians if it means relieving some tension between Koreans and Manchurians."

Chiya nodded slowly, "I'm going with you, I don't want you to get killed by angry people."

Earl smiled and nodded, "I was about to ask you that, I understand that the race on White Land will be starting soon, so I planned on leaving for Korea tomorrow."

"Good, me and Seppu-"

"No, we're not bringing him-I don't trust him…"

Chiya widened her eyes, but momentarily nodded, "Judging on his actions at the funeral, that may be a good idea."

Earl momentarily scratched his neck while looking at her, "So you're looking different, where's your hat?"

Chiya shrugged, "I'm not going to wear it today, as for the sweatshirt-I just wanted to try something new."

"Well you look very pretty without the hat, but don't stop wearing it."

Chiya smiled and raised her eyebrows at him, "Forgive me if I sound like I'm flirting, but you look amazing in uniform!"

Earl shut his eyes and grinned, "Oh yes, but I never wore this during the war, just my usual brown coat," Chiya nodded at him, he then stretched and opened his eyes, "Off to Bart's then?"

Chiya grunted nervously and dipped her head down, "I- I haven't spoken to Bart since…"

Earl clenched his fist angrily, "That's right, did you ever tell him that you wanted to quit working at the café?"

Chiya sighed and shook her head negatively, "I'm scared that he'll be mad at me now…"

"Bart's the one who got you in that situation with Jason, he's in no position to yell!" Earl then exhaled and brushed the bad memory aside, "But regardless, Bart's a good man and will be just fine."

Chiya nodded at him, they then began walking towards the door-Chiya then stopped and smiled at him, "Okay, if you're coming dressed like that, let's fix you up a bit first…" Chiya then grabbed his cap and threw it up in the air, then intentionally shook his hair around-making it shaggier, "There."

Earl and Chiya much later came to a stop at Bart's café. The _Purring Kitten_ was still torn apart for modifications-Earl planned on staying up very late to make sure that it was ready for the upcoming race. The trip to Korea and back would be the last thing they could do before they would need to head off for White Land-the planet of snow. It was established that Chiya wouldn't be the one complaining about the temperature this time, rather it would be Earl.

Earl stepped out of the vehicle in his military uniform, Chiya quickly got out and approached him-who was simply standing still. Earl raised an eyebrow at Chiya as she appeared to be hiding behind him.

"Problem, Chiya?"

She looked up at him and gave a distressed smile, "Uh, you go in first…"

Earl smirked at her, "What's he gonna' do? Jump over the counter and beat you up?"

Chiya placed her finger on her lip and thought about this, "N-no, but he'll yell at me!"

Earl chuckled at her and began moving towards the door, Chiya was walking very closely behind him. Earl quickly opened up the door and found that two other people were in the café-only they weren't at the counter. Earl and Chiya moved towards the counter and picked their usual seats, Chiya was sitting with her head lowered. Bart momentarily came walking around the counter with a grin.

"Earl and Ms. Flower, haven't seen you two around for a while," he greeted happily.

Chiya gasped and moved over to Earl's ear, "I told you he was gonna' yell!" Earl rolled his eyes at her.

"We've been very busy lately, last night was terrifying…"

Bart raised an eyebrow at Earl as he examined the uniform he was wearing, "What's the occasion?"

Earl looked down at his uniform and nodded, "Heading back to Korea tomorrow to make a public apology to the Manchurians."

Bart nodded and looked over at Chiya, who was staring at him shyly and nervously, "I take it you're done working here?"

Chiya sighed and nodded slightly, "I can't work here anymore, I can't risk to see Jason again after such a horrible night."

Earl nodded at her approvingly, "That's right."

Bart shut his eyes and tapped his fingers on the counter, "Ah, that's right-Jason had said a few things about that night."

Chiya and Earl both got intrigued looks, Chiya narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What did he say?"

"He told me that he had to break up with you, claiming that you were acting obnoxious and trying to seduce him."

Chiya gasped and Earl slammed his fist down angrily, "That lying bastard…"

"Are you kidding me? He was trying to get me drunk and sleep with me! He even called me a dumb blonde…"

Bart shrugged at her, "I can't pick a side, both you and Jason are good friends to me."

Earl growled and tapped his finger down three times, "Can I have his address again?"

Bart widened his eyes and momentarily chuckled, "I think for Jason's sake, I'm not going to do that…"

Chiya growled and shook her head, "Can we not talk about Jason?"

Bart smiled at her, "I'd much rather talk about F-Zero, perhaps the previous race?"

Chiya widened her eyes and beamed at him, "That went great! I can't believe I can take credit in Blood Falcon's demise."

Bart gave her a thumbs up, "You and Captain Falcon work well together, you must feel good knowing that you have the icon of F-Zero on your side."

Chiya nodded quickly, "Oh yes! You know, I always had kind of a crush on Captain Falcon throughout my life, but then I met Earl and Seppuku and that kind of went a different direction…" Bart and Earl slowly looked at each other, Bart's eyebrow was twitching, "I'm sure a lot of girls find him kind of hot though…" she said as she smiled while holding her cheek.

Bart cleared his throat and nodded, "Oh yes, he does have quite the female fan base…"

Earl had a strange looking smile on his face, momentarily chuckling as he turned towards Chiya, "We still need a game plan for White Land."

Chiya bit her lip and nodded, "Skull and Blaskovitz-but without an arm, Skull should be fairly impaired."

"How did Skull lose his arm?"

Earl chuckled at the question, "Well, Seppuku happened…"

Bart nodded, "Ah…"

A few minutes later, Chiya and Earl were studying a whiteboard that Bart had pulled out behind the counter. He had drawn an accurate map of the White Land track on the board in black marker and had listed where each restoration pad is.

"I checked the weather forecast, there's a sixty percent chance of snowfall during the race."

Earl and Chiya nodded, Earl then pointed at a very sharp curve in the track, "Chiya will have to be careful then around the curve if it snows, or she could run straight into the safety rail."

"Would I die?"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Not in an F-Zero machine, but you could total the front of the Purring Kitten-and guess who would have to fix that up?"

Chiya puckered her lips and nodded, "I'm going to help you with any Purring Kitten repairs."

Bart pointed at Chiya, "Do you have warm clothing?"

She looked down at her sweatshirt and shrugged, "I have this, and some grey pants..."

Bart pulled out his wallet and pulled out some credits, placing it in front of Chiya, "Both of you, go buy winter clothing-you _will_ get frostbite otherwise."

Earl lowered his eyebrows, "Wait, it's _that_ cold?" Bart nodded affirmatively, Earl then sighed, "That's just great…"

Chiya picked up the credits and smiled, "I haven't gone clothes shopping in months!"

Bart shrugged at her with a grin, "Just consider it an apology, for leading you into a bad relationship."

Chiya nodded, Earl slammed his fist down angrily, "Damn right it was a bad relationship!"

Bart grinned at Earl and nodded in agreement, he then turned towards Chiya, "Did you know that Earl cried when you left with Jason that night?"

Earl and Chiya gasped-both for separate reasons. Earl glanced away from the two, but nodded affirmatively at this. Chiya was staring at the back of his head, her eyes then began to water as she nodded at him.

"I should have at least considered Earl's warnings before, he obviously knows more about love than me," said Chiya. Earl slowly turned his head back at Bart with a somewhat angered look, Chiya smiled and shook her head, "What's done is done, Earl was right, we were wrong."

Earl let out a chuckle, "Well, whatever, can we just go shopping for these clothes now?" he asked trying to change the subject.

Bart nodded and began to walk away, "Then farewell."

Chiya was still looking at Earl somewhat in awe, _I didn't know that Earl could cry, especially over me…_ she then cleared her throat and nodded.

"Yes, let's go shopping, then we can work on the Purring Kitten."

Earl slowly looked back at her and grinned, "Sounds like a plan."

Several minutes later, Chiya and Earl went walking down the supermarket of Mute City. Earl had picked out a simple brown bomber jacket and was now standing around the female section with Chiya. She was looking through a rack of coats with a puckered mouth, she was displeased with the idea of wearing a large coat, as it was out of her character. Earl was tapping his foot impatiently with a somewhat disturbed look on his face, he dipped his head down uncomfortably at the sight of female undergarments all around the two.

"Want me to help pick one out?" he asked impatiently.

Chiya shook her head negatively, "No, it's fine."

Earl widened his eyes as a group of teenage girls walked by, staring at him with confused looks. Earl was fearing that he may look like some kind of pervert, just watching Chiya as she picked out clothes.

"Why put the underwear right next to the damn coats..?" he muttered angrily.

Earl then growled as the three girls were clearly talking about him amongst each other, as they were looking at him as they talked. Earl then startled Chiya by grabbing her hand and raising it up in the air for a moment with a fake smile. Chiya lowered her eyebrows and slowly looked over at him.

"Um-m, okay?"

"Trust me, this makes things look much more normal…"

Chiya nodded and turned back around, she momentarily pulled out a large blue winter coat, "Ah, Hell, suppose I'll fancy this coat."

Earl nodded, "Great, let's go!"

Chiya then turned her head and widened her eyes with an intrigued look, "Hey, F-Zero shirts!"

She then pulled Earl towards the fan shirts, she was the one holding his hand at this point. She came to a stop and looked at all of the shirts in amazement, they were very amateur shirts.

"A lot of Captain Falcon shirts!"

Earl nodded, "Well of course, he's the icon."

She put her hand on a white shirt with Japanese text on it, meant to mimic the one Samurai Goroh wore. Earl quickly slipped his hand out of Chiya's grasp-but to his surprise, she just grabbed it again.

"I wonder if there is a Blood Falcon shirt."

Earl immediately pointed up above her, "Yep, though he's evil, he _is_ a fan favorite."

Chiya gasped momentarily and began to chuckle, "Look at this," she said grabbing a black muscle shirt-it had a red hammer and sickle in the corner.

Earl raised his eyebrows and shrugged, "Considering you took him out during the first race, I would assume that his fan gear would be lacking."

Chiya grinned and lowered her eyebrows, "That's right, I took that sucker out!"

Earl glanced over to the side and widened his eyes, he then got a grin on his face, "Well, well, well, look at that…" he said pointing at a shirt.

Chiya glanced over and immediately gasped, it was a pink shirt with the name, _Chiya Flower_ in bolded text. She immediately let go of Earl and dashed over to the shirt in awe.

"Oh my God! It's amazing!" she said instantly observing every part of the fabric.

Earl smirked at her and chuckled, "Must feel good to be a growing celebrity, I could say that I'm one-only not for good reasons…"

Chiya disregarded this and was still bouncing around the shirt in excitement, "I've never seen such an amazing shirt! It's the best shirt ever invented!"

Earl began to laugh and shook his head, "It's a shirt with text Chiya, I'm sure this was designed by someone in college or something…"

She hugged the shirt happily and let out a big smile, "I don't care, it's the best shirt I've ever seen in my eyes."

Earl sighed with a smile on his face and pulled out his wallet, "I guess I can spare a little cash if it means that much to you…"

She nodded quickly, "It does."

Earl grabbed the shirt and coat out of her hands and held them over his shoulder, "That's it though, I don't get paid too much considering I split my pay with you and Seppuku."

Chiya frowned and nodded, "Yes, thank you for doing that…"

Earl nodded and looked away, "I hate to rush things, but I want to get home and work on the Purring Kitten, I'd like to leave for Korea quickly tomorrow but would like your machine rebuilt first."

Chiya nodded and began to follow him, "Very well…"

Chiya and Earl momentarily came back into the hallway laughing together, Earl was carrying all of the clothing they had bought in a bag.

"-and even if Seppuku could sing, he probably wouldn't sing anything very pleasant, probably something overly obnoxious and loud-like an American song..." said Earl.

Chiya continued to chuckle, "I think it would be cute if he tried doing barbershop…"

Earl shrugged at her, "Not sure I'd use _cute_, but yeah that'd be…"

Earl then widened his eyes as he looked at Chiya's door-it was wide open. Chiya looked up at him in confusion, she then realized what was wrong, the fact that her door was open likely meant that Mauser got out. Earl put his hand over his mouth and shook his head negatively, Chiya had quivering eyes and began to shake her head.

"I- I could've sworn I closed the door! Seppuku couldn't have killed Mauser!"

Earl gritted his teeth and continued to shake his head negatively, the deal Seppuku made with her was that if he caught Mauser outside of her room at any time-he would _remove_ Chiya's cat from the team.

Chiya grabbed her forehead with both hands and widened her eyes, "Mauser!"

She then ran into her room and began looking around franticly for her beloved cat, "Mauser! Where are you sweetie!?"

Earl still had his mouth covered with a very sad look, Chiya began to tremble and found that her eyes were instantly watering up-the idea of Seppuku grabbing the cat and killing it was too much to cope with. Chiya held her forehead and took a step back, Earl immediately grabbed her back to comfort her.

"Chiya, I'm so sor-"

"Seppuku!" Chiya screamed furiously.

She then pushed Earl aside and began running towards his office, an enraged look on her face as she ran. Earl gasped and pursued her, fearing that Chiya would get violent on Seppuku for killing her pet.

"Chiya, hold on!"

She shook her head negatively as she ran, "No! That wanker killed Mauser! I loved Mauser! How could he do this to me!?"

Chiya then kicked open Seppuku's door in full rage, Earl immediately caught her and grabbed both her arms-she was violently trying to break away from Earl.

"Seppuku!" she screamed.

Chiya managed to drag Earl right into Seppuku's office-she was determined to get vengeance.

"Oh, hello."

Earl and Chiya both gasped at the most unusual scene, Earl momentarily let go of Chiya and widened his eyes.

"What the…"

Seppuku was sitting at his desk with Mauser, he was petting the top of his head as he sat next to his computer. Chiya widened her eyes and tilted her head in confusion, "I- I don't understand, I thought you hate cats."

Seppuku took his hand off of Mauser and shrugged, "I was wrong, this fleabag is alright."

Chiya exhaled and wiped her forehead, "Thank God…"

"After the dark encounter we had this morning, me and Death Striker have become buddies."

Earl and Chiya both narrowed their eyes, Earl held his finger up, "D- Death Striker?"

Seppuku nodded, "His name is Death Striker…"

Chiya stomped her foot down, "His name is Mauser!"

Seppuku shook his head negatively at him, "Too bad, I'm calling him Death Striker…"

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him and shook negatively, "Splendid…"

Seppuku grabbed Mauser's head and curled his fur up, "After careful consideration, I've decided that we should put cat doors throughout the base so he can roam freely."

Chiya gasped and immediately clapped her hands together, "Yes! Finally!" she ran up to Mauser and scratched his chin, "Here that Mauser? You don't have to stay in my small room anymore!"

"Death Striker…" corrected Seppuku.

To be continued…


	31. Lap 30

==Lap 30=

Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku were standing together on the shore of Japan, it was sunset-Chiya and Earl had smiles as the three looked off towards the ocean. Chiya dipped her head and closed her eyes after exhaling happily.

"With Black Shadow and his goons dealt with, we can finally just live in a world of F-Zero and joy…" she muttered happily.

Seppuku nodded and chuckled, "And with Black Shadow's collected bounty, we'll never have to worry about finances again-we're living the life now…"

Chiya nodded in agreement, Earl then put his hand on her shoulder, "Don't forget, now you can finally be an F-Zero racer and just race, no more worrying about getting killed," he looked out at the ocean again and smiled more widely, "Things are looking up…"

Seppuku held out his hand and shook with Earl, then with Chiya, "Thank you, both of you are perfect members of my organization and more importantly-good friends."

Chiya smiled at him and nodded, "I love you guys so much…"

Seppuku and Earl smiled and approached each other momentarily, Chiya raised an eyebrow at the two. Seppuku then grabbed Earl's cheeks and smiled, "-and I love you Earl…" Seppuku said gently.

Chiya's eyes immediately shot open, "Huh!?"

Earl smiled back and smiled with his teeth, "Same here…"

Chiya immediately gasped and stepped back at the sudden romance between the two, she flailed her arms in the air and began to panic, "Wait, huh, what!? What's going on here!?"

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Lightning bolts then began to fly down constantly in the water, Chiya was trembling and looking at the sudden storm in confusion, "What the Bloody Hell is this!?"

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Chiya then grunted and began to groan, she now realized that it was just a dream-but she still heard loud banging. She rubbed her eyes and began to open them, "Wha-at the Hel-ll?"

She then opened her eyes slightly and gasped, she was sitting inside of the _Purring Kitten_-carefully wrapped in her blanket. She began to twitch as she observed her body, but she had a good idea as to how she found herself wrapped up. She moved her head left and looked down, she found that Earl was hammering something-but he now held up an electric screwdriver.

She opened up the cockpit and looked down at him, he was once again in his tank commanding uniform, "Hey, when did I fall asleep?"

Earl looked up and grinned at her, "It was about two in the morning and we were talking about your High School experience-then you slipped away while sitting in there."

Chiya nodded, "-and?"

Earl smirked and glanced away with her, "Well of course, I went and got your blanket and pillow, then just continued working on this." Earl then walked away from the _Purring Kitten_ and grabbed something off the table, he came back to Chiya and handed her a glass, "I just made this for you actually, I was planning on waking you up in a bit."

Chiya grabbed the glass and looked down at it in amazement, it appeared to be a brown beverage with vanilla ice cream in it. Earl rubbed his chin as he waited for a response.

"I know you love ice cream, so I mean-there you go."

Chiya smiled and picked up the white straw that was stuck inside of the desert, "I don't understand, what's the brown stuff?"

"Root Beer."

Chiya then lowered her eyebrows and handed it back to him, "Earl, you know I don't drink alcohol…"

Earl let out a chuckle and lowered his eyebrows at her, "Root beer is a soda, you don't know that?"

Chiya brought the glass back up to her face with a look of shock, "No, does it taste like beer?"

"Well I love beer, and trust me-that does not taste like beer."

Chiya looked back down with a puzzled look, "How does soda and ice cream possibly go together?"

Earl shrugged at her, "It's a root beer float."

Chiya hesitantly put the straw between her lips and began to drink out of it. Earl grinned and began to loudly put a screw back into the _Purring Kitten_ with the powered screwdriver. Chiya smiled as she drank out of the glass, she sat back in her seat and relaxed while Earl worked on the _Purring Kitten_, they had two days left before they would leave for White Land-giving Earl and Chiya just enough time to make a trip to Korea. Chiya closed her eyes as she slowly began to eat the actual ice cream. _He's such a sweet man…_ she opened her left eye and looked down at him, he had a smirk on his face as he drilled. _It's not fair that someone like him is hated so much in his home-to the point where he wants nothing to do with his own family…_ Earl looked up at her again and smiled, then began drilling another part of the machine. She looked down at his uniform and lowered her eyebrows sadly, _He loves his homeland so much, but the people there hate him-he must feel so crushed inside…_

Chiya unwrapped her blankets and began to step out of the cockpit, Earl moved away and let her get down. She immediately began moving towards the garage door without saying a word; she set down the empty glass on a workbench as she walked. Earl widened his eyes in shock at the already empty glass.

"Wow…" he muttered aloud.

Chiya turned her head at him, "I'm going to go get changed."

She then exited the garage, desiring to get her hat and grey turtleneck shirt back on. She wasn't showing much emotion at this point, her mind was suddenly away thinking about the miseries Earl likely had bottled up inside.

Chiya had gotten her clothes on, packed some bags, filled her room with pet supplements, and was now gleefully skipping towards the garage again-she even had a bikini packed, imagining that they may go swimming. She swung her bag around happily as she opened the garage door, immediately leaping in with a determined look. Earl was standing around the _Purring Kitten_, clearly just waiting for her.

"Well, you're bringing…" he raised his eyebrows as he looked at her large bag, "-a lot…"

Chiya nodded, "I imagine we'll relax while we're there."

Earl quirked his mouth and nodded, "Yeah, well, this isn't a vacation; I just want to make my public message and get the Hell out of Korea…"

Chiya frowned and lowered her bags somewhat, "But they'll forgive you, surely we can spend some time in Korea-I thought that you'd show me around a little."

Earl shrugged at her with a bland expression, "Dunno', I wouldn't take you around any populated areas, maybe to somewhere scenic though…"

Chiya lowered her eyes sadly, but then shrugged, "Yeah, I guess I'd like to see some of the country land…"

Earl grinned and turned around, walking over to his vehicle after putting on his visor cap, "Well let's get going then…"

Chiya looked up and began walking towards the vehicle as well. Earl grabbed Chiya's bags and began putting them in the back of the vehicle, he momentarily smiled at her, "Thank you for accompanying me here, it'll make this a lot less pressuring."

Chiya smiled with a challenging look, "I'm coming on one condition…" Earl slowly raised an eyebrow at her with a look of suspicion, "Before we leave for Japan, I want you to return home."

Earl hummed at her nervously, "Home?"

"To reunite with your family after so many years."

Earl still had a smile, he then began throwing her bags out of the vehicle with a smile, "Alright, I'll tell you all about Korea when I get back then."

Chiya dipped her head down with a frown and shook negatively, "Okay, okay, will you just consider it at least?"

Earl set her bags down and shook his head defiantly, "Nope, done with em'."

Chiya sighed and walked over to the door, momentarily putting her bags back inside of the vehicle. Earl nodded at her and got inside of the vehicle, turning it on immediately after. She quickly shut the door angrily and sat herself next to Earl with a frustrated look. Earl glanced over at her as they pulled out of the garage, he immediately narrowed his eyes at her after noticing her frustration.

"Why the Hell do you care so much about my parents?"

Chiya slowly turned at him, "Because, you deserve to see them again-don't you love them?"

Earl glanced away from her and sighed, "Yes, but I don't ever want to know what they think or even thought of me," he then pointed his finger at her, "You and me don't look at families the same way, I can understand that you love your family-I just don't about mine right now."

Chiya shook her head at him in disbelief, "But what about your future wife?" she then glanced away from him with her eyebrows lowered, "Don't you think that she may wanna' meet her parents-in-law?"

Earl shrugged at her, Chiya then looked down at her belly, "-and what about a child you may have, they'll probably want to meet their grandma and grandpa…"

"Just drop it Chiya."

She swished her head back towards him, then sighed at how stubborn he was being. She tapped her fingers on the window constantly while licking her lips. She sighed again and nodded at him.

"I'm sorry…"

Earl shrugged at her, then began to chuckle, "You may not get any luck with my family, but I sure hope I get the honor of meeting _your_ parents," he then gasped and hit the brakes, his eyes were now wide. Chiya dipped her head down sadly, "I- I- I mean, I hope I meet your mother some day, she must be very pretty!"

Chiya remained still with a dull sad look on her face, it was too late-Earl had walked straight into a problem. She continued to look down at her lap as she moved her mouth around slightly, "My dad would have loved to meet you, all the guys I liked back on my planet, he hated-but you're different…"

Earl felt good inside, but had a sad look on his face, "How so?"

Chiya tapped her fingers together nervously, "All the guys I met were drug using, womanizing, wankers-you and dad both were mechanics, and he had an honor system of his own, like you."

Earl nodded, "I'm so sorry that he had to die like that-I went through the horrors of war, firing explosives at any soldier or vehicle in sight, and I can tell you this much…" Chiya widened her eyes slightly more and looked up slightly, "He died painlessly in that bombing, there's no way he was alive to feel the pain, it was probably quick and painless."

Chiya then gasped and held her face, beginning to shake her head franticly, "O-oh my Go-od…" she whined aloud.

Earl dipped his head down and sighed, "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have reopened wounds tha-"

"No, no, you just don't understand…"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, she stopped shaking her head and breathed in, "I- I can't keep doing this, I need to tell someone about what I did right now!"

Earl widened his eyes and pulled over, they were coincidentally right next to Bart's Café. Earl pulled over because he felt this was important to him, he always wanted to know about Chiya's dark secret-but she never wanted to reveal what this was; all Earl knew was that whatever it was, it landed her with a bounty.

"It's okay Chiya, I'm a closed book, I won't tell anyone…"

Chiya's eyes began to water, she breathed in heavily and exhaled. Earl licked his lips and lowered his eyebrows, she slowly looked at him and gritted her teeth nervously.

"I was in town with my family whe-" she then stopped and began to shake her head constantly, "No, no, just keep driving…"

Earl grunted and shook his head negatively, "Chiya, you're seriously hurting yourself by keeping this to yourself for so long, I just want to help you…"

She looked away from him while shaking her head negatively, "No, no, just keep driving, forget about it…"

Earl continued to stare at her for a few moments, disregarding her request, he swallowed nervously and sighed, "You've been lying haven't you? Your entire family died, didn't they?"

She whipped her head angrily at him and growled, "No! Stop pissing around and drive the bloody car!" she screamed at him.

Earl immediately jolted up startled and hit the accelerator out of fear, "Alright, alright, I'm sorry Chiya!"

She had an enraged look on her face and crossed her arms together angrily, "Whatever, just get us to Korea-the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave…"

Earl hit the brakes again, "Well, I can just turn around and bring you ba-"

"Drive!" she demanded.

Later on, Chiya sat in her bedroom onboard her ship, Earl had already lifted the ship up and was now flying towards the Korean peninsula. Chiya was laying on her bed with a sad look on her face. _I didn't mean to shout at Earl, I didn't mean to…_ she thought with a hard feeling in her chest. She curled up and held her legs as she dipped her head down sadly, she was now feeling bad for both Earl and herself-convinced that she created tension by trying to make him reunite with his parents. _I guess that's that, he doesn't have to see them if he doesn't want to…_ She held her face and groaned loudly.

"Why did I have to bring up my damn personal life again…" she muttered aloud.

Earl chuckled as he stood by the door, "Eh, don't fret about it, I was just tryin' to help."

Chiya gasped and looked up, Earl had the ship auto piloting to the capital of the Manchurian state, "Earl, I'm sorry I pestered you so much about your parents…"

Earl shrugged at her, "Whatever, I guess that just makes us even, I don't get to know about your issues-so you don't get to try and resolve my issues."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at him, "So-o, if I tell you what happen-"

"Hey, just drop it."

Chiya sighed and nodded, prepared to get away from the subject-she then giggled and looked up at him, "I'll let you know a secret of mine, if you don't tell anyone."

Earl grinned at her and nodded, "Okay."

She pointed her finger at him, "Seriously, not a word-not to Seppuku, not to any fans."

"Nope, it's our secret."

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him and smiled, she moved down to her bag and began digging inside of it. Earl had an intrigued look, somewhat excited to learn something about her. Chiya then had a shy looking smile on her face and sat back up on the bed, she then put on a pair of glasses.

Earl widened his eyes and gasped, "Chiya, you need glasses?"

She immediately took the glasses off with a frightened look, "Yes, but only for reading-and sketching…"

Earl chuckled at her, "You still look great in glasses, I'm just surprised…"

She then smiled and put them back on, "Though I do practice sketching without them, I think I'm getting fairly good."

Earl walked over to her bag and grabbed the sketchbook she always drew in, he raised an eyebrow at her, "Can I see some of your works?"

Chiya nodded with a smile, "Of course!"

Earl then flipped open the cover and began to chuckle, "Well, there's a sketch of me right off the bat…"

Chiya then widened her eyes and gasped, "U-uh, wait a minute Earl…"

Earl then continued flipping through pages with a surprised look, "Uh, I can tell that I'm an interesting character for you to draw…" he said aloud as he found more sketches of himself.

She then snatched the sketchbook out of his hands and fake chuckled with a red face, "Uh, yeah, I just like…" she struggled to find an answer for him, momentarily glancing away from him, "So how long until we get to Korea?" she asked franticly.

"A few minutes."

Chiya put the glassed and sketchbook back in her bag and sat back down, "Earl, there's something I've been wanting to know for months now…"

"Sure."

She tapped her fingers together nervously and puckered her lips, "Just tell me, how you met me, just tell me how it all went down in your perspective."

Earl nodded and put his finger on his lip, "Oh boy, that was just slightly more than one year ago…"

Chiya nodded affirmatively and crossed her legs as she prepared for the story at last. Earl sat down next to her and rubbed his chin, "It was the day before the race-my birthda- both our birthday's apparently; and I was working on the Purring Kitten, which was at the time suppose to be my machine-called the Dark Avenger."

Chiya grinned and nodded, "Well it's the Purring Kitten now pal…"

Earl smiled and nodded, "Seppuku had come into the garage late at night, he had a very gleeful look on his face-he had told me about his success in saving a young woman from being raped, he claimed that she was nineteen years old at the most."

"I became twenty-three that night."

Earl nodded, "Yes, so he told me about how he saved the young woman-you; though I didn't care that much, I mean, I didn't even know you…" Chiya nodded at him, then began to kick her feet back and forth finding excitement in the tale, "With that being said, I went to bed after a hard day of work, mind you-this _was _during the gang war, so I was already working my ass off-I had to heal Seppuku twice since he got shot all the damn time by Red Star and the Bloody Chain."

"Next day please…"

Earl let out a chuckle, "The following morning, Seppuku was preparing for the first race of the Grand Prix-so I decided to go and try my luck at the bar, and that was a good bar-it had gambling tables set up during the Grand Prix. So I walked in to the bar that morning and waited for potential players to come, unfortunately the Lower City sucks, so I never did get any luck…"

"When do I come in?"

Earl smirked at her, "So as you know, I had a second hobby-picking up women." Chiya rolled her eyes at him, "I was waiting at the table for someone to come play me, but my day was instantly changed as someone walked into the bar-my eyes were immediately centered on this pretty blonde haired girl with a green beanie hat."

Chiya smiled at him and bit her finger, "I like this story…"

Earl grinned and exhaled, "So-o, I spotted this young woman at the table with her head down, so I knew she was lonely; so I decided to take advantage of the poor girl…" Chiya lowered her eyebrows at him and nodded, "Though I did have free access to races, I always bought tickets to the races to bribe ladies with. So I walked up to the young woman and immediately started to make my move on her, but of course-she was playing it silent, as I recall she-"

"Just say, _you_, I obviously know by now who this young lady is…"

Earl chuckled, "I sweet talked you up until the point that I got some information from you-I gathered that you were an F-Zero fan, so I used that opportunity and bribed you with a ticket, offering you a free ticket if you went with me." He then brushed his hair and closed his eyes, "a-and you rejected me…"

Chiya shrugged with a smile, "Sorry."

"So, I had never been rejected the ticket offer, but I was determined to win you over, so I made the altered deal-hoping that you'd go with me to the Casino Palace race. As you then started to finally open up to me more, Seppuku had called me, he informed me that we needed to get to the track-which is why I left." Chiya nodded slowly at him, "I assure you though, I hadn't forgotten about you, you can imagine my surprise when we crossed paths again the following day, I had no idea that _you_ were the one Seppuku had saved the other night."

He grinned and shrugged at her, "Technically, you _did_ go to the Casino Palace race with me, so you completed your obligation to me. After that, we became pretty good friends."

Chiya let out a whistle and nodded, "I always had suspicions that Seppuku sent you to the bar that day to spy on me."

Earl shook his head negatively, "Not at all, approaching you at the bar was all me."

Chiya grinned at him, "By the way, you came on to me a bit too strongly, your smile was so fake-you looked like a predator."

Earl grunted and rubbed his head, "Well then…"

Chiya stood up and stretched, "Well whatever the case, I'm glad you approached me that day, I would have never gotten this far if you hadn't…"

Earl nodded and put his visor cap back on, "Yeah, I'm just sorry that I was using you at first, that's exactly why I'm done picking up women now."

Chiya stopped in front of the door, then looked back at him, "I somehow doubt that you were just gonna' ditch me like all the other girls-we connect well with each other, it would have expanded into a relationship quickly."

Earl didn't respond to her theory, simply standing up and walking past her-back to the bridge. Chiya followed him down to the bridge, somewhat shocked to see the ship moving so quickly through the air without proper attendance. Earl sat down in the pilot seat and put on a headset connected to the dashboard; Chiya sat down in the other seat and glanced out the window as the ship went through several clouds.

"Where are we going in Korea?"

"Changchun, Manchuria."

Chiya groaned and dipped her head down with a disappointed look, "Well that sucks, I was just there before Christmas…"

Earl pointed at her with a solid figure, "May I remind you that this is not a vacation? This is a serious diplomatic mission that I'm feeling very nervous about."

"Can't you just show me around the city a little at least? I had no clue where I was going when I was first here, but I'm sure you will."

"No, I'm not welcomed in the Manchurian region."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily, "Yeah, well I'll kick any ass that dares harass you…"

"Or alternatively, we just sneak around and get from point A to B-then return to Japan quickly."

Chiya frowned and sighed, "Suddenly this doesn't sound very fun, not at all…"

Earl growled and clenched his fists, "This _isn't_ fun! What part of a mass murdering criminal apologizing to the victims of his crime sound fun to you?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and glanced away from him, "I dunno', I just thought it would be an exotic trip, you and me just enjoying time away from Seppuku and Black Shadow…" Earl was staring at Chiya from the corner of his eyes, his visor cap was shading his eyes fairly well, "Me coming along had nothing to do with the mission, I just tagged along because…"

Earl slowly looked over at her as she stared aimlessly out the window, waiting for her answer. She then shrugged and shook her head negatively, "I Guess I don't know why…"

Earl nodded and got a cheeky look, "Yeah, well you know that I'd go anywhere with you for the Hell of it, but this is really stressful on me."

Chiya nodded slightly, "Can I at least see your hometown?"

Earl slammed his fist down and quirked his mouth, "Pusan is the last town in Korea I'd show my face around!"

Chiya crossed her arms angrily and pouted with a look of frustration, "Well sorry for try-"

"Okay, I should really be writing a speech for this, so either talk about something more comforting-or leave me be."

Chiya immediately gasped and held her opened mouth, her feelings were immediately crushed by his request. Her eyes began to water sadly as she shook her head negatively and jolted back up, "Fine!"

Chiya then rushed away from him back to her room, slamming the door loudly behind her. Earl continued to gaze at the door, then sighed and turned his head towards the window.

A few minutes later, Chiya was laying on her chest with her head planted down on her bed. She was now wearing the glasses that she had revealed to Earl-no longer seeing a reason to hide it from him. _Why did I decide to accompany him? I should've known that this trip would be a complete bust…_ She continued to stare down at the floor with a somewhat sad look, Chiya was fearing that she would only continue to offend Earl throughout the trip; she was now fearful that Earl may be angry at her. She then nodded to herself and closed her eyes, _I'm here for him, because he would be here for me…_ She then widened her eyes and jolted her head up as the entire ship rocked upward.

"Woah…" she muttered aloud.

Earl had opened her door and walked in moments later, "Welcome to Changchun."

Chiya had at that moment dropped everything she was worrying about, once again excited to get on with this journey, "Alright, I've got my gun ready!" she said enthusiastically.

Earl smirked at her and shook his head negatively, "Don't you dare pull that thing out, that's Seppuku's resolution to every problem."

Chiya put her glasses back in the bag and stood up, "So where to?"

Several minutes later, Chiya and Earl went walking towards a very large structure with a palace appearance. Chiya was looking around the streets in amazement at how much different it was from Mute City-the city was much more traditional looking, many of the structures containing no flashing lights. Earl had his head dipped down with the visor of his cap completely covering his eyes. She found that he was hiding his rank pin that was on his collar-hiding the tank battalion pin that was attached to it; he was trying desperately to keep anyone from recognizing him. They were walking towards the capitol building, flying up in the air was a Korean, Manchurian, and Rebel flag. Though the Manchurian Rebellion surrendered, sympathizers continued to praise the rebels for trying-the Korean government knew that censoring the rebel flag would be offensive to many and could cause riots.

Chiya grabbed Earl's arm and smiled at him, he didn't show a single sign of emotion as she rubbed his arm, "You are one brave and honorable person, your first time ever back in Korea-and you come here, the heart of your past enemies."

Earl quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "The Manchurians were not my enemies, I served to protect Korea-whatever the cost…" he then looked up slightly at the sun, his eyes now slightly revealed to Chiya, "I could and should have just rode through the war and listened to my orders-I would have become a well known war hero; instead I played a dirty ruse on the rebellion…"

"You were too young Earl, the decision you made was out of impatience and frustration."

Earl nodded affirmatively, "Too young-that's exactly what went wrong…"

The two then stood in front of the gate to the capitol building, there was an armed guard standing behind the gate-he was completely motionless and was staring at Earl. Chiya swallowed nervously at the sight of the assault rifle the guard was holding, she was immediately reminded of her planet; where every military personnel marched with assault rifles. Earl remained silent, then removed his hand from his collar and slowly removed his cap; he slowly looked the guard straight in the eyes and remained silent. The guard remained perfectly still, but his eyes were now quivering-as if he were alarmed. Chiya fake smiled at the guard and lowered her eyebrows. The guard then stepped back for a moment and pulled out a communication device, he spoke silently into it while looking at the two. _Oh God, what if this whole thing is a trap? Are they gonna' arrest Earl?_ she thought nervously. The guard momentarily moved forward and opened the gate for them, Earl put his visor cap back on and proceeded forward-Chiya followed him closely.

They were now walking down a marble path with colorful flowers going along the path to the sides, Chiya looked back up at Earl-his cap was now raised high enough for her to see his eyes, but not his eyebrows. The sound of birds chirping around them was all that could be heard, the two were completely silent as they walked.

"Are you scared?" asked Chiya.

Earl didn't move his head at all, continuing to walk straight towards the large glass door, "I've been praying for years for forgiveness, I'm more concerned to see if I will be granted this at last." Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly and nodded, Earl dipped his head down and quirked, "Forgiveness is all I can receive unfortunately, whether I like it or not-I'm going straight to Hell when I die."

Chiya grunted and frowned at this, shaking her head defiantly, "Th- then I'm going right down with you…"

Earl silently chuckled at her, "I'm not worth going to eternal Hell for, I would stay in Heaven with you're actual family."

Chiya continued to stare at him, then exhaled, "You're not going to Hell…"

Earl didn't answer her, he opened the large glass door and walked in with Chiya. She immediately gasped at all of the traditional and ancient art that was surrounding them. She immediately began to walk around the lobby of the building with a look of awe, she was instantly intrigued with the paintings. Earl stood still and watched her as she obsessed over every little thing, he then slightly smiled at her.

"Commander Bendek!"

Earl and Chiya widened their eyes and turned towards an approaching short man in a black suit. He had a smirk on his face as he quickly came towards Earl, Chiya narrowed her eyes at him and quickly got to the side of Earl. She grabbed his arm and hugged it, fearing that they would take Earl away.

Earl saluted the man with a serious look, "Honorable Chairman," he greeted.

Chiya raised an eyebrow at the two and looked back and forth, "What's a Chairman? Is he the janitor or something?"

The two disregarded her question, Earl swallowed nervously and looked down at her moments after asking this. The Chairman bowed to Earl and gave him a faint looking smile.

"I must be honest, I did not expect you to come-this must be excruciatingly difficult for you…"

Earl nodded at him, "I'm hoping that I can finally clear some things up with the Manchurian populace-since my name has been besmirched for the past years."

The Chairman nodded and held his hand out towards a staircase, "Please, let us walk-and your…" he turned his head towards Chiya.

"Chiya Flower, she's my good accomplice-and a motivator."

Chiya smiled at her introduction, "I'm also an F-Zero racer."

"Congratulations," he then turned around and began walking towards the staircase.

After a few minutes of storytelling, the three came up to a balcony overlooking the courtyard of the palace. They moved over to the edge of the balcony, where a Korean banner was drooping down.

"This, is where you will make your statement."

Earl stepped up to the front and looked down at the courtyard, Chiya held her hands together and lowered her eyebrows, "Is he safe from assassins?"

The Chairman smirked at her, "I assure you, we will have our best men keeping Commander Earl from danger-it is vital that this apology goes perfectly, as it will restore much unity between the Koreans and Manchurians."

Earl slowly turned his head back at the Chairman, "This has to be held tomorrow, otherwise we're leaving."

"Of course, I have a bedroom reserved for you inside of the palace."

Chiya widened her eyes and smiled slightly, "Sleep in a palace?"

Several minutes later, the Chairman had departed-but insisted that Chiya and Earl remain in the palace until the next day. Earl was sitting on a bed with his cap and dress coat off, he had a stern look on his face as he looked down at his dress shoes. Chiya was bouncing around on her bed gleefully, a large playful smile on her face as she bounced.

"I want to live here! This is fantastic!"

Earl slightly smirked at her and nodded, "Yeah, it's great."

She leaped onto his bed and sat next to him quickly, "Earl, I know this is hard for you, but you need to relax a little bit, I've never seen you like this before."

Earl slowly moved his eyes at her, "Like what?"

She smiled and flailed his hands at him, "So serious, dull, it's like you suddenly became an exhausted war veteran out of nowhere."

He grinned at her and dipped his head down after exhaling, "Well, maybe I do feel sort of old now, it was six years ago that fought in that war."

Chiya chuckled at him and shrugged while kicking her feet back and forth, "You're twenty-nine, that's not old…"

Earl sighed and looked back up, "I just- merely six years ago, I envisioned myself fighting in this city, this was the city were all fought to get to," he then shrugged and chuckled, "Thank God we didn't make it this far, we would've turned this beautiful city into a pile of rubble…"

Chiya held her finger up, "Because of your decision to bring down that tower, which broke the morale of the rebellion."

Earl frowned and shook his head negatively, "No, don't ever bring up any positives about what I did-that was nothing but a crime."

"Hey, whatever, even if you don't get anywhere with this speech-at least I still like you," he moved his eyes towards her quickly, "If you fail, at least you tried-that's the important thing, isn't it?"

Earl nodded his head, "If things do go good though, I was thinking…" she widened her eyes and smiled at him, "Maybe, I could take us to one of the battlefields I fought at."

Chiya clapped her hands together and stood up immediately, "Okay! Well…" She then ran over to her bag and tore out a piece of paper from her sketch book, she then put the paper into his hands, "Get writing then!"

Earl looked at the paper and chuckled, "I sucked at essays back in school, let's hope I've improved over the years…"

To be continued…


	32. Lap 31

==Lap 31=

It was two in the morning, Chiya and Earl had reluctantly agreed to stay in the Manchurian palace overnight. Earl went to bed early claiming that he needed to get as much sleep as possible, as he was at long last going to amend for his war crimes to the people of Manchuria-wanting to finally get clear to everyone that he was not prejudice against Manchurians. Chiya had stayed up later to walk around the capitol building, finding this a once in a life time opportunity; she had eventually gone to bed as well.

Earl was groaning constantly as he slept, the bed he was sleeping in was luxurious and much more comfortable than any bed he usually slept in-but he was so nervous about the big day ahead of him that he couldn't enjoy it. Earl was still asleep, but he had awoken somewhat, now able to think to himself. _Chiya's right, even if I can't pull this off, at least I tried my hardest…_ he thought as he began to lick his lips. Earl grunted and shook his head somewhat, he then began to reposition himself in the bed slightly-but something felt wrong. _Is there an animal sleeping on me or something?_ He felt that something was wrapped around his torso somewhat, but couldn't make out why any animal would be in the capitol building. Earl moved his body slightly, trying to figure out what it was-but nothing was coming to mind, and he was too dazed to actually wake up and find out. _Oh well…_ he then turned his head the other direction and patted his hand down on the pillow a few times. Earl's eyebrow began to twitch as he suddenly heard Chiya grunting in her sleep, _Silly girl…_ he then gritted his teeth in confusion as he heard a slight snore-only it was abnormally loud. He lowered his eyebrows and continued to doze off, but suddenly life was shot into his body as he felt a hand begin to poke his chest. He gasped and opened his eyes, and was overly shocked-the first thing he saw was Chiya's face. He gritted his teeth and looked at his body, Chiya had her arms wrapped around him.

"What the Hell..?" he panicked aloud. Chiya slept right through his response, he had a somewhat disturbed look on his face, for whatever the reason-Chiya had got off her bed and joined him, "Chiya."

She didn't show any intentions of waking up, continuing to make noises in her sleep. Earl knew that she was a heavy sleeper-months ago he had even managed to carry her back to her bed without waking her up.

"Chiya…"

Chiya made no response, she simply had a calm and peaceful look on her face as she slept, she was still wearing her stock hat. Earl sighed and momentarily held his fist over her head, preparing to knock on her head a few times. Earl was looking down at her face, but suddenly got a distressed look-he couldn't find the strength to abruptly wake such a gentle and happy person. He unclenched his fist and sighed.

"She already had to deal with a lot of my crap yesterday…" he said silently to himself.

Earl then nodded and turned his head away from her as he laid back down-ultimately deciding to let her sleep alongside him. As long as their faces were no longer close to each other.

Dark Rose was walking down a hallway of Black Shadow's ship-the hallways and doors were large enough for an F-Zero machine to fit through. Rose was smiling maniacally as she looked down at a small plush toy-it was a souvenir Chiya Flower plush toy. She began to dig her fingernail into the toy's neck and began to hum a tune happily aloud. She smiled with her sharp teeth as her fingernail pierced the neck of the toy, she momentarily stuck her finger straight inside of the toy.

"Get that goofy smile off your face…" she demanded to the smiling toy.

She then tore the head straight off of the toy and tossed the body on the ground, she began to toss the ball up in the air and catch it constantly as she walked towards the throne room door. She continued to chuckle at the head of the plush toy, momentarily opening the large door in front of her. She stood in front of the door and continued to catch the head with one hand over and over. Black Shadow quirked his mouth at her and growled as she slowly walked in the room.

"What?" he demanded.

Rose began to laugh as she continued walking towards him, "You need to chill, the future ruler of the universe will be expected to be cool-not hostile."

"Do I need to terminate your life?"

Rose grunted and rubbed the back of her head, "N- no…"

"Then what is it?"

Rose let out a gleeful smile and closed her eyes, "Where's Excalibur?" Black Shadow tapped his fingers constantly, expecting more of an explanation, "I kind of like that stupid Korean, wanted to help him with his F-Zero machine."

"He's still on Earth, he isn't to return until he completes his current task…"

"Which is?"

Black Shadow nodded at her, "He did good bringing back the money, so I can trust him somewhat with a bit more serious of a job," Rose grinned at him and rubbed her hands together, "He's to sabotage the machines of Chiya and Seppuku, that way we'll have no problem winning the Grand Prix-thus proving to the world that we; the Dark Million, are superior to all others…"

Rose rubbed her hands together and licked her lips, "I just want to see the day where Chiya's blood is dripping from my hands, as I look down at the dying girl," she whipped her head downward and smirked, "She is inferior…"

Black Shadow grinned, "You're all talk, make this happen already…"

Rose put her feet together and clapped, "I would love to, but first I need to kill who is closest to her heart-and since I am her clone, I know that this is the mechanic."

Black Shadow nodded, "That's a waste of time…"

"It'll be glorious master! With the mechanic dead, I can kill Chiya while she is miserable! A beautiful combination."

Black Shadow swished his hand at her, "Do whatever you want, just don't kill Seppuku-not that you could in the first place."

Rose snapped her fingers and bowed, "I am baking cookies, would you like any?"

"…huh?"

Rose gave him a gleeful smile and nodded quickly, "Cookies, would you like any?"

Black Shadow face palmed, "You're suppose to be the dark Chiya, I can only imagine what crap Seppuku and the mechanic have to go through…"

Chiya had a smile on her face as she began to awaken, her eyebrows were immediately twitching as she felt that her arms were wrapped around something. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped as she found herself wrapped softly around Earl. Earl momentarily turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Chiya.

"Good morning."

Chiya widened her eyes and retracted her arms quickly, "Oh God! I- I- I don't even know how that happened, I made sure to sleep as far to the right as possible!"

Earl let out a chuckle and shrugged, "Yeah, well I caught you doing that shortly around two."

Chiya's face was now red as she held her forehead, "So-o, you didn't stop me?" she asked with a frantic look.

Earl stood up and chuckled, "It's no problem, nobody needs to know that you were cuddling with me."

She sat up and shook her head negatively, "On accident!"

Earl grinned at her, "A better question though; why did you join my bed?"

Chiya widened her eyes and looked back, "My bed, it was getting soaked out of nowhere…"

Earl gritted his teeth in disgust, "So-o, you had an accident then?"

Chiya whipped her head back towards him furiously, "Hell no! My bed was just getting wet out of nowhere!"

Earl stood up with an intrigued look and walked over to her bed, the first thing he noticed was that there was a large red stain in the bed. He then grunted in disgust as he walked over to the bed.

"I knew it could get fairly nasty, but I never envisioned that you bled _that_ much…"

Chiya stomped her foot down and growled, "Bloody Hell! For the last time, that is not a bodily fluid!"

Earl stuck out his finger and dove it down towards the still-wet stain, before he touched it-he stopped. He looked back up at Chiya and narrowed his eyes, "Before I do this, please tell me the truth-this isn't from you, is it?"

Chiya closed her eyes angrily, "No, that isn't bl-" she then grunted and briefly looked down her shorts, "No, that isn't blood."

Earl nodded and stuck his finger in the fluid, then moved it back up to his nose. Chiya stared at him almost fearfully, wondering what this substance was if it wasn't blood. Earl sniffed his finger and immediately widened his eyes, he then quickly wiped the liquid off of his finger with the bed sheets.

"Ch- Chiya, tell me right now; did any of this get on your skin?" he asked with a serious look.

Chiya widened her eyes and shook negatively, "No, it was dripping from the ceiling as I tried sleeping."

Earl widened his eyes and looked up-immediately spotting a small drilled hole above the bed. He then nodded and looked back at her, "This is poison."

Chiya gasped and looked down at the bed quickly, "What!? Who's trying to kill me!?"

"Me," Chiya instantly turned her head at him with a distressed look, "I mean, they were trying to kill _me_."

Chiya nodded and then shook her head negatively, "That's crazy, but why did they go for me?"

Earl rubbed his chin as he looked at both beds, "Your bed was the luxurious one, mine was too-but not nearly as good, the assassin must have thought I would be sleeping in that bed."

Chiya began to whimper as she looked up at the ceiling, "Bu- but who's the assassin?"

Earl quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "Suddenly I have a feeling that there's more to this than just a speech-I think by killing me, they think that the Koreans and Manchurians will get on good terms much faster."

Chiya gasped and held her mouth, "That's crazy! You mean the government might be doing this?"

Earl sighed and licked his lips, "Nobody but the chairman knew that I came, and he didn't even think I was showing up in the first place-he's the only person who could have set this up…"

"Black Shadow?" she proposed.

"Maybe, but I somehow doubt it."

Chiya grabbed her handgun out of her pocket and held his shoulder, "Well to Hell with the speech, let's get out of here!"

Earl hesitantly nodded, "Sadly, I think that's the best course to take…" he then bent over and grabbed her bag, "Come on, we can escap-"

At that moment the door to the room had opened, Chiya and Earl gasped as the Chairman walked in with two Korean soldiers. Chiya quickly hid her gun behind her back, but was prepared to kill the soldiers if necessary.

"Commander Bendek, the people of Korea are already excited for your speech-I presume that you wrote a speech?"

Earl lowered his eyebrows angrily and nodded, "An assassin tried to kill my friend last night, what the Hell is with the lack of security?"

The Chairman continued to stare at him with a blank expression, then bowed moments later, "That is most unfortunate, but surely you understand-no one in this part of Korea likes you, and there are likely radicals who will try and take the extra step…"

Chiya tapped her fingers on the handle of her gun, preparing for a bloodbath. Earl shook his fist at the chairman and growled, "Look, we need to leave, now."

"I implore that you stay Commander Bendek, we have already announced your intentions of apologizing to the people, it would look bad if you had a sudden change of heart and left, wouldn't it?"

Chiya slightly gasped and looked at Earl, he began to nod slightly in agreement. Chiya dipped her head and sighed at Earl's intention to stay.

"When is this speech?"

"We have scheduled for it to be held in an hour, so you do have a speech prepared, correct?"

Earl shrugged, "I'm bad at that stuff, so I'm going to speak from my heart-though I did write an outline."

The Chairman bowed and smirked at him, "Glorious, I have faith that things will go in your favor, commander."

Earl gave him an intense stare and slowly nodded, the Chairman then turned around and proceeded through the door. Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily and got in her boots, Earl then carefully dropped her bag back on the floor. Chiya gasped and brought it back up to his hand.

"Oops! I saw that you dropped my bag on accident, can we go now?" she asked with a fake smile.

Earl sighed and dropped the bag again, "Nah, I have to give this speech, Chiya." She got a sad look and shook her head negatively, Earl then grabbed her shoulders firmly, "I want you to be my bodyguard during the speech-I'll make it real quick, all you need to do is keep watch that I'm not attacked from behind."

Chiya nodded and lifted up her handgun, "I won't let anyone lay a hand on you…"

Earl rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Well, unless I get struck by a sniper…"

Chiya gasped and immediately began to water, she then began to shake her head constantly, "Please don't do the speech!" she begged loudly.

"Relax, this will be short and sweet, I'm not speaking to the media, not answering questions, not accepting pictures-I speak, and we leave."

"Bu- but what if you do get killed, I'll be miserable!"

He smirked at her and nodded, "Then put a Korean flag on the Purring Kitten to remember me by-and win the Grand Prix."

Chiya quirked her mouth angrily and glanced away, "Burn every Korean flag I see, is more like it…"

"Chiya!" he snapped back at her in offense, she then gasped and looked at him in confusion, he held his finger up to her, "Korea is a nation, you should never hate a nation-just the government-but never the land, people, or soldiers."

Chiya grunted and dipped her head down, "I'm sorry…"

Earl turned away from her and nodded, "For centuries we have been faced with nations that appear evil, but never forget-all conflicts were started because of two governments failing to get along; the land, people, and soldiers are never the ones who get a say in the matter."

"But…"

"Centuries ago, when both Korea and Manchuria belonged to Japan, the government ordered an attack on one of the largest global powers-do you actually believe that every single citizen and soldier of Japan wanted this?"

Chiya had a look of confusion, she had no knowledge on Earth history, but she then shook her head negatively, "Probably not…"

Earl turned around with a grin, "Sorry if I'm offending, I just want you to understand-no matter what the government does, I will always love my homeland."

Chiya rubbed her chin and smiled, "Tell me about the days that this land belonged to Japan."

Earl sighed, "No; firstly, I don't know much about that era, secondly, it's generally viewed as a very sad time."

Chiya smiled at him, "But Japan is great! How could it have been sad?"

Earl shook his head defiantly, "No, no, let's just plan for this speech some more…"

Several minutes later, Earl and Chiya stood together near the balcony of the building-Chiya was looking out the window in awe at the massive crowd that was beginning to form. The courtyard was completely filled, leaving people to mass around the gate of the building; the street in front of the capitol building was closed off on the account of how many people were in the way.

"Th- that's a lot of people…" Chiya said aloud frantically.

Earl tapped his fingers on the glass and sighed, "The majority of them want me dead," he added.

She lowered her eyebrows fearfully and looked back down at the swarmed courtyard, _Can't run at this point, it's safer in a building with a possible assassin than to walk out into that angry mob…_

Earl held up his outline and began to look over it, Chiya blinked at him a few times with a look of intrigue, "Can you read it off for me?"

Earl chuckled and shook his head negatively, "You wouldn't understand it…"

Chiya stomped her foot down, "I'm not some little girl, I can understand any intelligent words you may use."

Earl smiled at her and nodded, "No, I mean-"

The Chairman then approached the two and bowed, "Commander Bendek, you can go out there any time now, we're making sure to keep citizens from breaking in."

Earl widened his eyes and took a step back, Chiya then grabbed his hand and smiled at him after shrugging. Earl rubbed his forehead and nodded, "Wow, _now_ I'm beginning to feel nervous…"

"It'll be fine Earl, haven't you been waiting for years to express yourself to the victims of the war?"

Earl nodded at her, "I beg for forgiveness every time I finish the Lord's Prayer."

She smiled at him and nodded, "I can't fix my past, but you still can-so do it!"

Earl slowly nodded at her and begin to grow a grin, he then hesitantly moved his visor cap back up to his cap and breathed in. Chiya had a proud smile on her face as put her hands together, the Chairman simply stood with a blank expression. Chiya then released her fingers from Earl's hand-but he didn't let go of her. She blinked a few times at him as he then began walking towards the balcony, bringing Chiya with him. The Chairman followed the two momentarily, Chiya had a proud look on her face as they took slow steps towards the balcony. Earl exhaled as they took a single step into the light, Chiya was shocked at the glimmering eyes Earl had-his smile now converted into that of clear distress and guilt. Earl finally walked right up to the front of the balcony, momentarily releasing Chiya before he got to the edge. She stood still right behind him-both her and the Chairman were visible behind Earl. Earl came to a stop at the edge of the balcony and grabbed the visor of his cap, immediately dipping his head down; the massive Korean banner gently blew in the air underneath him.

Chiya gasped and got a look of shock as the sounds of massive booing and shouting could then be heard-Earl had an expressionless look as he merely looked down at his feet. She looked around at the massive amount of angered citizens, amazed at how many people were against him. Chiya's eyes began to water as she quickly looked back at Earl, he was simply standing silently still with his head lowered-as if he knew this were to be the initial reaction. _This isn't fair…_ she thought sadly.

The Chairman quirked his mouth at Earl as the booing continued, robots were hovering around the balcony-waiting for the crowd to settle down so they could broadcast his speech. Chiya shook her head constantly and swallowed sadly, she wanted to help Earl somehow-but she could never say anything that would appease the angry mass. Earl quirked his mouth and then pulled out a paper from his uniform-he held it up above the balcony railing. The crowd began to settle down at the sight of his paper, but he refused to raise his head-he hadn't even looked at the crowd yet. The Chairman momentarily walked up to Earl's side and held his hand up in the air-the people were instantly silenced by the simple wave of a hand. Chiya exhaled and nodded, no longer possessing a smile. Earl finally raised his head up slowly, looking at the thousands of citizens that flooded the area-he shed no tears and broke no facial expression. He then set the paper down and cleared his throat. _This is going to be the most amazing speech I ever hear…_ she thought excitedly.

Earl looked up and held his hand out into the air with pride, "eomeoni, ttal, abeoji, adeul-gugnae jeonseon-ui salamdeul …"

Chiya grunted and widened her eyes, she had envisioned that his speech would be in a familiar language-but they were in a foreign land. Chiya's eyes were quivering as Earl proceeded to speak very loudly, yet calmly-she found herself feeling crushed, he was putting such emotion into his words; she would never know what he said unless translated in the media. Though she had no idea what he was saying, she felt that in a way he was making sense to her-she had listened to him go on about his feelings for months on his war crimes; giving her a good idea of what he was likely telling them. Earl waved his arm around in the air as he spoke quickly, there wasn't a sound anywhere in the city-just Earl. Chiya lowered her eyebrows as she watched Earl wipe his eye-blocking a tear from falling down his face. She nodded respectfully at her best friend, he wasn't crying about what he had done-rather that he was finally given the chance to open up to the people he considered family; a chance to regain the honor he had lost-to protect his family and country.

Earl was a knowledgeable battalion leader in the Civil War, in another reality-he would have been one of the most renown heroes of that war…

she swallowed as Earl stomped his foot down and shouted a word slowly emphasized. _He didn't bring the tower down on the Manchurians because of any prejudice reasons-he did what he believed would save thousands of lives, as a continued war would have brought more bloodshed…_ The Chairman crossed his arms and quirked his mouth as he listened carefully to Earl, there were Korean soldiers standing guard behind the balcony. She then closed her eyes and lowered her eyebrows, momentarily looking at Earl again, _It was a dark decision, what he did, but in the end-he was only doing what he thought was right, he's clearly convinced that this was an evil act; but maybe, just maybe-he was brainwashed by all of the hatred, from a point of view, maybe he was still a hero…_ Earl stopped talking for a moment to swallow, he licked his lips and quickly continued speaking. Chiya's eyes continued to water as she prepared to conclude her thoughts, _None of us will ever know if this was truly an act of evil by Earl, who was only twenty-three-but he has chosen his path now, and they should let it go if anything-realizing that his apology is true and honorable…_ She lowered her eyebrows at the silent crowd and closed her eyes, _I know Earl more than anyone here, and I know that he would gladly kill himself if it meant all those people could be brought back to life-that is who Earl Bendek is, and always will be…_

"Jeongmal joesong haeyo…" Earl concluded, momentarily removing his visor cap and holding it against his waist.

Chiya smiled at him, putting her hands together momentarily. Earl and Chiya both widened their eyes at the sound of riots once again erupting in the crowd-Earl looked around the crowd in horror, the majority of the crowd still appeared angry at him. Earl sighed and dipped his head down in shame, a few tears going down his face momentarily. Chiya gasped at the sight of Earl crying, a shock going down her spine, _I thought only the weak cried…_ she thought in awe. Chiya was never one to cry, only water-seeing someone like Earl begin to cry was a complete surprise to her. She shook her head negatively as she stared at Earl, she then began to grind her teeth angrily as she narrowed her eyes. The Chairman raised an eyebrow and glanced at Chiya-she was now turning red and had her fists clenched furiously. She began to hyperventilate out of fury as she looked down at the crowd of people, it was Earl's sorrow that had finally broken her. The red face Chiya momentarily whipped her hair and began stomping towards Earl loudly and quickly, the Chairman merely stood still with a raised brow at the sight of Chiya making the scene-still not fully understanding who this is. She walked right up to Earl and grabbed his shoulder, he immediately widened his eyes and looked over at her-his eyes completely glossy from the water. She then pushed him roughly aside and slammed her fists down on the balcony.

"All of you shut the Hell up!" she screamed with a look of fury.

Earl gasped and shook his head negatively, he held his hand out towards Chiya-but the Chairman grabbed it before he could grab her. Earl gritted his teeth at Chiya fearfully, but did not speak-he was scared that she would ruin her reputation if she directly sided with him.

Chiya held her fists down on the balcony angrily, Earl had never seen her so angry before, "All of you are jerks! Earl is the nicest person I have ever met, he's nothing like the monster depicted in that garbage movie, he would never kill without reason, he would never commit any of the crimes that you wankers demonize as!" Earl's eyes were quivering at the back of Chiya, he knew that this would turn out badly-even if the majority had no idea what she was saying-on the account of foreign language, "Not a single one of you know Mr. Bendek! But I do, only I do, and maybe some of his tank buddies-but no one knows more about him then me!"

The crowd was completely silent, this would surely be the highlight of Earl's speech-after Chiya's speech would be translated. "You hate the man for a crime he committed as a young adult, inexperienced, fresh out of school-it's sickening! I can't stand you people, he may have played a major role in stopping Manchuria from winning the war, but he has told me countless times of how he wished things went differently-a world where Manchuria had won!"

She grabbed her forehead roughly and closed her eyes, "I met this man at a bar in Japan, he has had to live in the worst conditions imaginable because of what happened, an action that he regrets! He helped me become an F-Zero racer, saved my life, bailed me out of financial problems, and most importantly-he became my friend!" Earl was now standing still, no longer trying to stop Chiya-she had already sealed her fate, "It took this man guts to come back here, into what was once enemy territory-he _has_ changed, but he never was bad, he only brought the tower down because he knew it would prevent more citizens form being killed, it wasn't a good action-but it might have saved many of your families…"

Earl grunted and widened his eyes at her, not wanting her to promote what he did as a good thing. "What if he hadn't done it? Would Korea have pushed right into this very city? How many citizens do you think would have died during that assault!? Many of you may have not been alive today if it weren't for him!" She brushed her hair aside and grinded her teeth, "Yet he comes back to apologize, is this not a significant thing for him to do? Would _you_ do this?"

She then exhaled and stood up firmly, momentarily nodding, "I'm sorry for yelling…" she concluded as she took a few steps back.

Earl and the Chairman both looked at each other, the Chairman nodded at Earl with an intense stare, "Bendek, geunyeoneun nugu-Inga?"

All three could be seen from the balcony, the crowd was still silent-as if they were watching a show. Earl looked down at the crowd with a look of awe, he then slowly turned his head back at Chiya-slowly smiling. He held his hand out towards Chiya and nodded with a proud smile.

"Igeos-eun naega geunyeowa saland eiss-eo, Chiya Flower ibnida…" he responded calmly with a smile, looking Chiya directly in the eyes.

Chiya was immediately shocked at the sound of heart warmed awing in the crowd, she grunted in confusion and looked around her for help, "Wha- what did you say?"

Earl chuckled and shook his head negatively, "Thank you, Chiya…"

The Chairman looked back inside the building and made a swift hand signal, Chiya immediately turned her head and widened her eyes. There was a man in camouflage, a white ninja styled hood and mask-he was holding a silenced assault rifle. The man momentarily put away his rifle, he didn't look like a soldier-rather some kind of bounty hunter. _They were about to assassinate him…_ she thought in disbelief.

Earl then charged right into her and lifted her up into the air, swirling her around with a tight hug. Chiya immediately got a playful smile on her face, but was then disturbed that he was doing this to her in front of thousands. Chiya then licked her lips and looked him in the eyes, finding this the perfect moment to reattempt something. She grabbed Earl's cheek and closed her eyes, beginning to move in for a kiss.

Chiya was then thrown up in the air, Earl caught her and began to carry her away from the balcony. She grunted and widened her eyes, but revealed a faint smile momentarily. A heartwarming scene, none-the-less.

"Chiya, let's get the Hell out of here-but I have one place to take you first…"

She blinked a few times at him with a confused look, "Oh?"

About three hours later, Chiya and Earl had gotten back in the ship and traveled to another part of Korea-this time in actual Korea, rather than Manchuria. Earl and Chiya were driving down the country road of Korea, Earl was now in his usual brown leather coat and white shirt. Chiya was anxiously looking around at the scenery they drove past, Earl had a grin on his face the entire drive. Chiya could see the ocean when they landed-so she knew that they were near the coast of Korea.

"Are we almost there?"

Earl nodded affirmatively, "Yep."

She tapped her fingers on her cheek a few times and rolled her eyes, "Where are we even? What was the city we just landed at?"

Earl smirked at her question, but didn't respond. They hadn't come across any cars during the trip, it was a simple and quiet road trip Chiya and Earl were taking. The one thing that Chiya noticed, was that even though Earl appeared overjoyed-he had a distressed look on his face. Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, then noticed that his hands were trembling as he held the wheel.

"D- do you need me to drive for you?"

Earl shook his head negatively, she was then surprised as he slowly began to brake. Earl got a blank expression on his face as he looked out the window towards the fields, "We're here."

Earl then locked the doors of the car, Chiya looked around for anything of interest-but found nothing, "What is this?"

Earl grabbed the back of her head and pushed her forward, then pointed out towards his window-he was pointing towards a fairly poor household. There was a Korean flag proudly displayed on a rusty flagpole outside of the house.

"That's it, where it all began."

Chiya blinked a few times, trying to figure out what he was saying, he then turned his head towards her, "That is my home, where my family resides."

Chiya gasped and covered her mouth with widened eyes, "Y- you mean, your family is mere meters away!?"

Earl nodded his head affirmatively, "The last time I stepped forth there, I was shipping out to the Pyongyang region for war…"

Chiya continued to stare at the simple looking home, a look of amazement on her face, "The greatest mother and father to ever live is right there…" she muttered completely blown away.

Earl chuckled with a snort, "No, not really…"

She smiled and reached for the door handle, prepared to finally meet Earl's family. She then lowered her eyebrows as the door wouldn't budge-Earl had locked it. She quickly looked back at him, "How do I unlock the door?"

Earl continued to stare into her eyes, then let go of the brakes; Chiya gasped in response as the car began to move. She shook her head negatively as Earl continued to stare at her, he momentarily made a U-Turn and began driving back towards Pusan. Chiya looked back at Earl's house and put her hand on the window.

"So that's it then? You won't reconsider reuniting with your family?"

Earl smirked at her and nodded, "They're alive, that much is clear to me-whether they're proud or disappointed in me must always remain a secret to me."

Chiya slowly nodded at him, realizing that if he wouldn't meet them while right in front of his house-he never would. "Very well then…"

Earl placed his hand on her shoulder, "If there is a Heaven, that'll be where I have my reunion."

Chiya slowly looked at him and smiled, "You don't think you're going to Hell anymore?"

Earl looked out the window and smiled, momentarily nodding at her, "God will forgive me."

Chiya smiled back at him and laid her head back, neither of the two had figured out whether many people forgave him-but Earl was viewing this as a success. What Earl didn't know, was that the government was prepared to set up an assassination and blame it on an _anonymous rioter_. Chiya could rest easy knowing that she not only helped him finally overcome this dark part of his life, but she had yet again saved him. Best friends forever…

To be continued…


	33. Lap 32

==Lap 32=

After a day of emotional work in Korea, Chiya and Earl had returned safely to Mute City-the two had spent the remainder of the day away from the base however, so they had arrived late at night. The two had gone to Bart's café, took a walk around the soccer stadium, discussed things while watching the ocean, and eventually went out for dinner. Chiya had gone straight to bed when she got home, quickly grabbing Mauser and snuggling in her own bed-she was now paranoid that she would find poison on her bed. Little did Chiya know, Earl hadn't actually gone to bed; he had to finish up the _Purring Kitten_ quickly since they would be leaving for White Land the following day. Earl lied to Chiya because he felt that she did enough for him, if she had any knowledge of what Earl was up to, she would have stayed up to help him. Earl considered himself deep in debt for Chiya, believing that she had done things that he could never repay for.

Chiya was slightly snoring in her sleep, it was now morning and she was comfortably sleeping-but not as much as she was in Korea. She was beginning to wake up at the sound of scratching, followed by the sound of something being slowly pushed open. Chiya instantly opened her eyes and gasped, frightened by the simple sounds.

"M- Mauser?"

She quickly turned on her lamp and lowered her eyebrows as she instantly caught the source of the noise. She rubbed her head in confusion but had a smile on her face-Mauser was pushing himself through a small cat door that was installed on her door.

"What the Heck? That's awesome!" she said excitedly.

Despite the fact that Chiya had already seen her door, she hadn't seen the cat door. The first thing she could assume was that Seppuku was behind this while they were away, she was overjoyed that Mauser had a way to escape from her room at long last. Chiya leapt out of her bed with a smile and got into her boots, the last thing she could see was Mauser's rear trying to get out of the door.

Chiya puckered her lips and pushed his rear out the door, "Who's my chubby kitty?" she muttered playfully.

She then opened her door and immediately looked down the hallway, she was surprised to see that Mauser was heading straight to Seppuku's office. She gasped and widened her eyes as she watched him automatically head for his cat door-every door except for the lobby had a cat door installed, including Earl's room. Mauser momentarily got on his legs and began to push open Seppuku's door, momentarily climbing through the small door. _How does he already know how to find Seppuku?_ she then lowered her eyebrows sadly and bit her lip, _God, I hope Mauser doesn't forget about me-his owner…_

She then walked towards Seppuku's office with a look of fear, praying that Mauser wasn't going to leave her and stay with Seppuku at night. She hesitantly opened the door and peeked inside, she was immediately met with the image of Earl and Seppuku looking at a magazine together-they were laughing. Mauser had walked past Seppuku and leaped on his desk, simply laying down on the printer.

Earl had a large smile as he continued to chuckle, he then exhaled, "It took this man armpits to come back here…" he read over again.

Chiya raised an eyebrow and closed the door as she walked in, "What's so funny?"

Earl looked up and broke his smile, now looking at her fearfully, "Oh, nothing!"

Seppuku looked up at her and grinned, "A Korean college reporter translated your speech terribly…"

Chiya grunted and widened her eyes, "Wha- let me see…"

Earl shrugged at her, "It's in Korean, so I'll read it-mind you, this was an article translated and written like ten minutes after you spoke yesterday, which is why it's so bad…"

Chiya blinked a few times at him, then gasped in horror as she looked at the magazine cover-the cover was of her being held by Earl over the balcony, the moment she was closing in for a kiss. She face palmed and groaned in embarrassment, _Great going Chiya, I'm sure these two were laughing at that as well…_

"All of you are bonkers! Earl is the hairiest man I have ever smelt…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and gave him an intense stare, "Um…"

"He's nothing like the mountain found in that garbage bin, and he would never kill without eating, he would never collect any of the crimes that you screwdrivers rock." Chiya got a faint smile on her face as she shook her head negatively, "Not a single one of you tickle Mr. Bendek! But I do, only I do, and maybe some of his tank buddies!" Earl said while beginning to laugh.

Chiya then smiled and began to giggle at this, "Was this guy drunk or something?"

Earl cleared his throat and looked back down, "You hate the man for a cat he ate as a young adult, inexperienced, fresh out of school-it's nutritious! I can't stand up to you people, he may have played around when stopping Manchuria from winning the war, but he has beat me countless times on how he wished things went differently…"

Chiya quirked her mouth playfully and grinned momentarily, "Yeah, you beat me countless time…"

Seppuku held his hand out, "Wait…"

"I nailed this man at an elementary school in Japan, he has had-"

"What!?" she spat out with a disturbed smile.

Seppuku began to laugh loudly at her response, Earl was chuckling as well-despite how awkward the translation sounded. Chiya face palmed and shook her head while laughing, Earl then closed the magazine and grinned, "Alright, enough of that…"

Chiya kicked her foot down a few times as her laughter turned into a mere smile, "When are we leaving?"

Seppuku threw a bag over his shoulder and gave her a thumbs up, "We were waiting on you."

Chiya puckered her lips and wiggled her fingers with lowered eyebrows, "Well gee, maybe we shouldn't always plan so early in the day…"

Earl grunted and shook his head at her, "Chiya, it's almost five…"

"Your point?"

Seppuku shrugged at her, "How do you even sleep that long? You miss the entire day, _and_ get more than the recommended hours of sleep…"

Chiya held her hands out at both of them, "Yeah, well, I like sleeping, so what?"

Earl smirked at her, "Well that's just less of you we get to see, is all…"

Chiya grinned at him and ran her finger across her face, "Beauty comes at a cost, you think this face comes naturally?"

"What beauty?" asked Seppuku.

"You have the smoothest skin I've ever seen, it's probably the most attractive thing about you."

Chiya grinned and turned her cheek towards him, "I've been told that my cheeks are perfect."

"Damn right they are, you have excellent cheeks."

Seppuku smirked at Earl, "Which cheeks are you talking about?"

Earl narrowed his eyes at him, "Shut up Sep-"

"Just saying, I wouldn't be surprised if you got to see Chiya's bare ass by now."

Earl grunted and closed his eyes with a quirking mouth, Chiya began to turn red and glanced away from the two while dipping her head, "Stop being perverted Seppuku, it's not funny…"

Seppuku grabbed his rifle and began moving towards the door, "Whatever, go get your stuff Chiya, meet us at the garage, you have three minutes."

Chiya gasped and immediately retreated out the door, Earl then began to silently chuckle as he looked back at Seppuku, "Not a single one of you tickle Mr. Bendek…"

Earl began to chuckle as well; Chiya then stormed back into the office with a frantic look. She ran past the two and grabbed Mauser off the printer, then proceeded back out the door with him. Seppuku tapped his foot constantly as he looked at the door.

"That girl and her fleabag addiction…"

A few hours later, the three were traveling in space aboard Chiya's ship, Earl was standing around the living room in a brown bomber jacket-but insisted on wearing his usual pants. Seppuku was sitting on the couch watching TV while the ship automatically flew in a single direction towards White Land. Earl glanced at Seppuku who was watching some kind of drama/comedy; Seppuku began to growl as he shook his head negatively.

"That wasn't funny, not at all, whoever made this show should probably be dead right now."

Earl began to laugh, "Calm down, just a guy trying to make a living."

"But this show is so stupid! It's like something Chiya would watch!"

Earl smirked at him, "It's intended for youn-"

"Hey, I love that show!" Chiya said excitedly as she then entered the living room.

"See?"

Chiya was now wearing a very large dark blue jacket and grey pants, she continued to wear her stock hat. Seppuku turned his head towards Chiya and smirked, "Gained a pound or two I see…" he joked.

Chiya instantly gasped and widened her eyes, Earl grunted and shook his head negatively, "No, no, no, i- it's just a big jacket Chiya."

Seppuku stretched and nodded, "At least she's being smart, your little coat won't keep you warm Bendek."

Earl quirked his mouth and nodded in agreement, "Well this jacket has a nice inside, I'll cope," he then turned his head towards Chiya, "I had to deal with a lot worse during the war."

Seppuku nodded and turned his head towards the TV again, "You'll be happy to know, that I decided to do something nice for all three of us-but it was expensive so don't put it to waste…"

Chiya clapped her hands together excitedly, Earl grinned with a look of excitement, "Go on…"

"I paid for unlimited access to the very warm Mega Onsen near the track."

Chiya began to clap happily and excitedly, though she had no idea what an Onsen was. Earl lowered his eyebrows and grunted, "Uh, I mean, I guess that's great-but what about Chiya?"

She then looked at the two sadly, Seppuku shrugged, "She can just go alone."

Chiya grunted and shook her head negatively, "No! Why can't I Onsen with you guys? Why do you always want to exclude me!"

Earl glanced away from her and began to turn red, "Uh, well you see Chiya, an Onsen-"

"It's sex segregated, otherwise I'm sure Bendek would _love_ you joining him…"

Earl narrowed his eyes angrily at Seppuku, Chiya rolled her eyes at the mentioning of it being sex segregated-meaning men and women were separated from each other. She sighed and swished her hand down at them.

"Whatever, have fun," she said coldly.

Earl gritted his teeth, "I still recommend you give it a try, you can find Onsen's in Japan, but the coldness of this planet makes this something you don't wanna' miss."

Chiya scratched her head, "Um, so what is an Onsen then?"

Earl smiled and held his chin firmly, "Hot springs, just take a quick shower and-"

"I like swimming!" she said excitedly, she then dipped her head down sadly, "Damn, but I didn't bring my swimsuit for once…"

Earl closed his eyes and grinned uncomfortably, "We-ell, technically y-"

"Let's just see if she's interested when she gets there, she'll probably just say no if you explain the catch here."

Earl hesitantly nodded at him, then looked at Chiya, "Go take a shower Chiya, it's a requirement to get in."

Chiya nodded at him, Seppuku crossed his arms, "Yeah, take a shower you sack of dirt."

"Hey!" she spat back at him offended.

Earl chuckled and shook his head negatively, "He's just jokin'."

Chiya hesitantly nodded at him while beginning to unzip her jacket, she then turned around and began moving towards the bathroom. Seppuku and Earl waited for her to leave the living room before looking at each other.

"Think she'll do it?" asked Earl.

Seppuku smirked at him, "Wager?"

Earl smirked back at him, "I don't think she'll do it, she's too self-conscious."

Seppuku rubbed his chin and nodded with a grin, "I have an interesting idea…" Earl raised an eyebrow at him, "If she _does_ do this, then _you_ have to make a bet with _her_; if she doesn't do it, then I'll wear casual looking clothes for the rest of the week."

Earl widened his eyes, "Like, a T-Shirt?"

Seppuku nodded, "If she goes in the Onsen, then you have to make any kind of bet with her-loser dyes their head blue."

Earl gasped and got a devious grin, "That's pretty bad, she'd look cute with blue hair-but I'd look ridiculous."

The two then remained silent, before Earl held out his hand, "Deal."

The three had landed at White Land several minutes later, Earl and Seppuku were impatiently waiting around the living room for Chiya. Seppuku was once again watching TV, but was only finding things to complain about.

"See, that was the stupidest joke I ever heard, how can they even call this comedy?" Seppuku complained.

Earl chuckled at him from the couch, "Why not change the channel if you hate it so much?"

"Because, anger is my fuel…"

Earl stretched his arms across the couch as he yawned, "I'll be sure to pay you back for the Onsen, I really need this…"

"Yes, because your life is so-o hard…" Seppuku muttered sarcastically.

"Fixing F-Zero machines, protecting Chiya, fighting monsters in the dark, appeasing an entire country, I _do_ need this."

Seppuku growled and shook his fist towards the hallway leading to the bridge, which also contained Chiya's room and the bathroom, "Forty minutes! What does she do in there for forty minutes?"

Earl chuckled and looked over at the hallway as well, "Last race she was in there for an hour or so, she likes taking a long bath after the shower."

Seppuku sighed and shook his head negatively, "That idiot, that's kind of what we're gonna' be doing anyways…"

"Whatever, as long as it keeps us from leaving the ship, I'm not exactly thrilled to be on this ice cube of a planet."

Seppuku stood up and began marching towards the hallway, "Well she's bathed long enough!"

Earl grunted and looked back towards him, "Wh- what are you doing?" he then got up and pursued Seppuku to the bathroom door.

Seppuku began to roughly knock on the door, "Flower, you have one minute to get out here or so help me, I'm coming in there and grabbing you right out of the tub!"

Earl widened his eyes and gasped, the sound of swishing water could then be heard, "Wh- what!?" she yelled from behind the door.

"Fifty seconds…"

Chiya then let out a scream, followed by the sound of her leaping out of water. Earl grabbed Seppuku's arm with a look of frustration, "You can't jus-"

Seppuku and Earl then cringed as a slipping noise could be heard, then the loud crashing noise of her falling over. Earl widened his eyes and gasped.

"Chiya, are you okay!?"

"Yes! Just don't come in!"

"Forty-five seconds…"

Earl growled at Seppuku and tried tugging him away from the door, Seppuku remained completely still however. Chiya mere moments later opened the door with a frantic look on her face-she was holding several pieces of clothing and was only in her panties and grey shirt.

"Okay, okay! Bathroom's all yours!"

She then quickly pushed the two aside and moved into her room instead, shutting the door behind her quickly. Seppuku sighed and began walking back to the living room, Earl followed him closely.

"Was that really necessary?" asked Earl.

Seppuku nodded, "I'd like to get going already, she was just holding us up."

Earl stopped around the couch and smirked at him, "So, still think Blood Falcon's alive?" he joked.

"Yep."

Earl grunted in response, "Oh, well, alright then."

Seppuku pointed at him, "Me and Flower will have a lot on our plate this time: Blood Falcon, Blaskovitz, and The Skull."

Earl poked Seppuku's chest hostilely, "You protect Chiya," he demanded.

"She's an independent racer, she knows what she signed up for-but yes, I'll stick by her." Seppuku then swatted his fist into his palm and quirked his mouth, "I'm wondering if I should just take out Guster, I'm sure he wants Chiya out of the race after what she did."

Earl gasped and nodded, "That's right, Guster was only retired last race because he missed the restoration pad-all because Chiya was distracting him."

"I was distracting who?" asked Chiya.

The two turned around towards her as she began to zip up her jacket, "Guster, you caused him to become retired from the first race, so he may be out to get you this race."

Chiya widened her eyes, "Oh God, can I apologize to him?"

Earl smiled at Chiya, but Seppuku returned a look of disgust, "Don't be a punching bag, besides, it wasn't your fault that he was distracted, a smart racer would keep his eyes on the race at all times."

Chiya hesitantly nodded, "I'm not being a punching bag, I just think we should worry about Black Shadow's minions."

Earl nodded in agreement and looked back at Seppuku, he had a puzzled look on his face, "Interesting Flower, you could have a point…" he then turned towards the door to the ship and grinned, "Ready for a change of temperature?"

Chiya exhaled and nodded happily, "About time, I much prefer the cold over the heat!" she said excitedly.

Seppuku then pressed a button, opening the door-everyone was immediately met with a freezing temperature-as if it just blew right inside of the ship. Chiya and Earl both gritted their teeth upon feeling just how cold it really was.

"O-okay, wow…" she muttered as she began to shiver.

Earl moved ahead of her and rubbed his arms, "Let's just get going."

The two were moving through the plowed streets of a fairly traditional looking city, the buildings were not too large. Earl moved with his hands inside of his coat pockets, his teeth were chattering as he continued to shiver. Chiya was shivering as well, but was coping with the cold much better than Earl-Seppuku didn't seem bothered at all. Chiya glanced over at Earl again with a sympathetic look. She then took her stock hat on and placed it over his head instead, pulling it over his ears. He immediately looked down at her, who now had a smile.

"I think you need that much more than me right now."

Earl quirked his mouth and then grinned, "So this is what it's like to wear this…"

Chiya looked over at Seppuku with a smile, "Seppuku, would you like to be a good friend and lend Earl your gloves?"

"No."

She got an irritated look on her face, then looked back in front of them. Earl continued to rub his arms, the bomber jacket wasn't helping him very much. He then growled and narrowed his eyes angrily.

"People like to live here?"

Chiya shrugged and smiled again, "I kinda' like it here, kind of like a frozen version of Mysteria."

Earl chuckled at her briefly, "Crazy…" he then exhaled and licked his lips, "Jesus, I'm seriously nipping out right now, it's just that cold!"

Seppuku smirked at him, "Yeah, same here."

Chiya looked at the two with a playful smile, "I'm nipping too!" she said gleefully wanting to join in.

Earl and Seppuku both lowered their eyebrows and slowly looked at her, Earl cleared his throat and let out a quick chuckle, "Chiya, that's kind of weird for a girl to tell a guy, so don't joke like that…"

She then got a puzzled look on her face and tilted her head, "But, I am nipping…"

Earl then widened his eyes and began to rub the back of his head as he looked away, "Oh, well…" he then got a perverse grin and shook his head negatively, "Jesus, why'd you have to make things awkward now..?"

Off in the distance, two were watching the three walk down the streets via binoculars, they were standing on a snow mound outside of the city. One was in a black trench coat, her arms were crossed as she waited for her partner to identify them. The man behind the binoculars were then revealed to be Brock Blaskovitz-he wasn't wearing any coat or jacket-just his usual muscle shirt.

"Targets sighted," he reported.

Dark Rose began to chuckle as her coat blew with the snow, "Wonder where they're off to…"

Brock grinned and looked at her, "Shall we find out?"

"Y-yep."

The two then began moving towards the _Stalin's Might II_. Brock got on and turned the engine on, Dark Rose sat sideways on the bike with a maniacal grin. The two then began moving towards the city quickly, preparing to stalk the three.

A few minutes later, Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku entered a fairly large building-they were standing next to two doors, one for men, and one for females. It was time to see who would win the wager. Chiya rubbed her chin for a few moments and looked back at the two in confusion, both were just staring at her aimlessly.

"What?"

Earl shrugged at her, "I guess we'll be heading in now, what'll you do?"

Chiya grinned at him, "I came here to relax too, I still don't get why I can't just stay with you guys though…"

Earl and Seppuku both looked at each other, then back at Chiya. Earl swished his hand at her a few times, "Head inside for a moment, I have a feeling you might not want to stay."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "O-okay…"

She then entered the female section and closed the door behind her, Seppuku and Earl caught a glimpse of what the Hot Spring looked like, there was no roof, but certainly hot water. Earl and Seppuku remained still, expecting Chiya to come out at any moment. Earl lowered his eyebrows, but was certain that Chiya would end up heading back to the ship-thus winning the bet. Earl then chuckled and looked back up at Seppuku.

"No fedora or scarf, that's not regular clothing, but you can keep your visor on of course."

Seppuku looked down at him but did not respond. Chiya momentarily came back with a slightly disturbed look, she had a very faint quivering smile and lowered eyebrows as she approached the two. Earl raised an eyebrow at her, anxious to hear her response. She slowly raised her finger up and got a larger disturbed smile.

"Um, so I noticed that every single woman in there is naked…"

Earl closed his eyes and nodded slowly, "That's kind of the catch, but no worries if you just wanna' head back to the ship."

Chiya rubbed her forehead and puckered her lips, then looked at the two, "So-o, let me get this straight…" Earl grinned at her, the nodded, "You and Seppuku are going to just get butt naked together and lay around in the water?"

Earl grunted and held his chin, "Uh, technically yes, fortunately you can't really see through the water."

Chiya hummed and held her chin with a look of contemplation, she then began to tap her foot constantly as she thought. Earl's eyebrow began to twitch in fear, suddenly surprised to see that Chiya was still thinking about it. To Earl's surprise, Chiya ended up closing her eyes and shrugging.

"Already got butt naked with my sister all the time, this is probably no worse…"

Seppuku began to laugh and punched Earl's arm-having won the wager, Earl got a look of shock on his face.

"What!? You're gonna- wait wha- sister? What happened now?"

Chiya shrugged and puckered her lips with a simple look, "We showered together, sometimes shaved each other…"

Earl gasped and left this mouth hanging, "Huh!?"

Chiya swished her hand at him, "It's a Mysterian thing, you Earth people are just weird," she then began to chuckle and shake her head negatively as she held open the door, "You people think that's weird; cra-azy Earthlings…"

She then shut the door behind her, leaving Earl completely flabbergasted. Seppuku opened the men's door and began to chuckle, "Looks like either you or Chiya will be getting blue dyed hair."

Earl face palmed as he and Seppuku walked over to the changing area, "I'm proud of Chiya, but th- this is bull…" Earl concluded.

A about five minutes later, Chiya came out of the changing area only wrapped in a white towel. She looked down at the water and gritted her teeth nervously, there were about five other people in the water-but on the completely other end of the spring. Not a single person was paying attention to her, they were either socializing with each other or laying their head back and relaxing. _Oh God! They're all watching me!_ she thought overreacting. Her hand began to tremble as she scanned the spring carefully to make sure that it was clear, she looked in back of her a few times to make sure that no one came in all of a sudden-especially Earl or Seppuku, for whatever the reason they would have in the female section.

Chiya gritted her teeth and momentarily dipped her head, she took a step into the water and dropped her towel momentarily-quickly bringing herself into the water. She covered her chest immediately as she initially entered the water, but momentarily moaned as she was overcome with the joyous heat of the water. She submerged herself enough to the point where the water met her collarbone. She immediately looked down and exhaled in relief to see the truth in what Earl had said-the water was too cloudy looking to see through. She then smiled and lowered her eyelids.

"Well this is awesome…"

She moved her hand out of the water and wiped her forehead, she then closed her eyes and began to chuckle to herself, "I went from a common bum of the Lower City, to an F-Zero racer living the life…"

Seppuku and Earl were next to each other in the water, Seppuku looked at him with a look of pride, Earl had his head dipped down with a disappointed look. The two had remained awkwardly silent for about two minutes, Earl momentarily glanced back at him.

"Okay, in my defense-I _am_ Asian…"

"That's just a stereotype, shame on you for insulting your own culture…" Seppuku then began to chuckle at him, "Bet Flower will be very disappointed…"

Earl's mouth began to quiver as he shook his head negatively, "I disagree, I think Chiya is more a classy woman and would be very content with it…" Seppuku continued to laugh at him, making Earl feel even more uncomfortable, "Okay, just shut up man…"

"Is it really Lieutenant Seppuku?" asked a voice.

Earl widened his eyes and looked up from the water-Samurai Goroh was standing across from them. Seppuku simply stared at Goroh, Earl then raised an eyebrow at Goroh.

"Huh, Chiya was right-you are just big boned…"

Goroh rubbed his bicep and grinned, "No offense Seppuku, but being naked in a hot spring is the last place I pictured you doing…"

"What do you want?" demanded Seppuku.

Goroh smirked at him and shook negatively, "I'm just trying to relax, calm down."

The Onsen belonged to the F-Zero committee, meaning the same rules applied-no fighting. At any time that a fight occurs, the committee will have trained militiamen run in and kill the offender. Seppuku smirked at Goroh and crossed his arms together.

"Me, Chiya, and Falcon are in a little war with Black Shadow's minions, wanna' join our side?"

Goroh chuckled at the offer, "Well, I don't like Captain Falcon, I don't really like you, and I don't like Chiya…" he tapped his finger on his chin a few times with a big grin, "What's that one response I'm looking for..?"

"No, I will join Black Shadow," answered Blaskovitz as he came walking through the water as well.

Earl and Seppuku both gasped at the sight of the pale muscular Russian, Seppuku immediately began to grind his teeth at him.

"Blaskovitz…"

Goroh shook his head negatively, "No, I don't join alliances-I want the prize money all for myself!"

Earl was now staring at Brock, fairly disturbed at the large muscles he had under the muscle shirt, "What are you doing here?" demanded Earl.

Brock smirked at him and pointed back at the door, "Just preparing for the big race, me and my friend, Dark Rose."

Earl raised an eyebrow at him, "Um, so where is Rose then?"

Chiya was much more comfortable with her situation at this point-only she wished that she could partake in whatever conversation Earl and Seppuku were in. She had her eyes closed and lowered her brows somewhat in frustration. _I think I'd be okay doing this with two guys; as long as they kept a distance from me…_ she then silently chuckled to herself.

"I can only imagine what it's like in their section…"

She was then imagining a room of obnoxiously loud music, belching, odors, and talk about sports. The female section was very bright colored with a very perfume-like smell in the air, and those speaking were at a very low volume. Chiya was wearing her stock hat again, as she didn't imagine she'd actually be going under water or getting her head wet. Chiya then widened her eyes at the sound of bare footsteps approaching closely from behind her-a curious Chiya immediately turned her head, but was faced with a naked body standing right behind her. She whipped her head back around and closed her eyes with a disturbed look. _Oops!_ she then rubbed her head uncomfortably. Chiya somewhat smirked and dipped her head down, _That girl's breasts are kind of like-_

Chiya was then shocked as the person climbed into the water next to her, touching her shoulder against hers. Chiya grunted in shock and turned her head at her immediately-revealing Dark Rose.

"Hello, Chiya," she greeted with an evil razor sharp smile.

Chiya widened her eyes and immediately placed her hands up on the floor, preparing to retreat from the spring. Rose then slammed her hands down on Chiya's and began to chuckle.

"Well that isn't nice, I thought you were the nice spirited version of me…"

Chiya then looked at her again with quivering eyes, "I- I don't want to fight naked, can we just do this somewh-"

Rose shrugged and laughed at her, "Fight? I'm just here with ma' buddy."

Chiya was lost looking into her eyes-she was amazed at the exact replica of herself. _Her eyes…_ Rose continued to stare back into her eyes with an intense evil grin. _They're so red…_ Rose then began to run her finger up Chiya's neck, Chiya began to tremble at this.

"You need to relax Chiya, I can't kill you in here-they'd have my ass…"

Chiya glanced away from her and exhaled, she then gave her a fearful look back, "Why were you created?"

"Because, I'm you-I have every memory that you possess, meaning I know all your secrets and passwords as well!"

Chiya gasped and rubbed the back of her head, "So you know _everything_ about me?"

Rose smiled playfully and nodded, "Yep!" She then put her finger under the water and poked Chiya's bellybutton, "Boop!"

Chiya growled and backed away from her with fierce eyes, "Oh my God, I hate that!"

"I know right? Abby used to do that all the time when we went swimming, remember?"

We?

she thought with widened eyes. Chiya then gritted her teeth fearfully as she looked at Rose in amazement. _She even knew that Abby said 'boop'…_

Rose closed her eyes and chuckled, momentarily laying back against the wall more, "So how's Mauser? I miss him so much…"

Chiya raised an eyebrow at her, "Mauser's doing fine, Seppuku just built cat doors around the base for him to walk through."

Rose gasped and widened her eyes at her, "What!? Seppuku supports this?"

Chiya got a blank expression on her face and nodded, "Yes, he now loves Mauser."

Rose shook her head in amazement, "Wow, when I was still in your body-Seppuku hated Mauser…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at her with a look of puzzlement. _Is she implying that we were conjoined once?_

Rose dipped her head down somewhat sadly, "Black Shadow won't let me get a cat…" Her lips then began to quiver somewhat as she looked at Chiya for a moment, "I miss Mauser so much…"

Chiya widened her eyes at her, somewhat feeling sympathy for Dark Rose, "Oh, well…" Chiya then put her hands together and bit her lip, "I mean, I'm very sorry…"

Rose then began to tap her cheek constantly, "He won't even let me hang up any posters or anything, my room is so dull-nothing like my old room in Seppuku's place…"

Chiya swallowed and narrowed her eyes at her, "You mean my room?"

Rose nodded slowly and sadly, "_Our_ room…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly at Rose, then licked her lips for a moment. Chiya then nodded and got closer to Rose, getting right next to her again, "Well, if you're me-then you wanna' talk about your issues like crazy!" Rose then widened her eyes and looked at her, "So talk to me!" Chiya said with a smile.

"Black Shadow has talked about dropping in on a Grand Prix race one of these days, but he is not sure when the right time is," explained Brock.

Earl, Seppuku, and Goroh were all sitting around each other at this point-there was somewhat of a temporary truce established at this point. Earl turned his head toward Brock with a loud chuckle.

"You realize that everyone would try killing Black Shadow right?" everyone then looked at Earl and nodded, "I mean, screw the Grand Prix-if you kill Black Shadow, your set for life!"

Seppuku rubbed his hands together, "I wouldn't mind claiming that bounty…"

Brock began to chuckle and looked back at Earl, "You haven't seen the Black Bull in a while-have you?"

Everyone shook their heads negatively, Seppuku shrugged at him, "I joined the Grand Prix the same year Black Shadow left, so I never saw it on the track."

Brock slowly grinned at Seppuku, "Oh, trust me-I know…"

The two then stared each other down, Earl and Goroh both looked at the two constantly. Earl raised an eyebrow at Seppuku slowly.

"What? Is there some connection between you and Black Shadow?"

Seppuku growled at Earl and shook negatively, "Shut up, Bendek…"

"The Black Bull is too powerful now, no F-Zero machine could scratch it-not even the Blue Falcon," explained Brock; he then looked at Seppuku and chuckled, "This is the race that I kill Chiya-we have a plan…"

Earl gasped and immediately narrowed his eyes, "Not on my watch!"

Everyone then began to laugh at Earl, even Seppuku was laughing at his threat. Seppuku crossed his arms and looked at Brock, "Yeah, look out Blaskovitz-Earl's gonna' kick your ass!" he joked.

Earl growled and shook his fist at the two, "If you piss me off enough, I can cause some real damage! Killing Earl would set me off like a lighter…"

Seppuku grinned at him, then leaned over towards Brock, "They love each other."

Earl then dipped his head down and sighed, "Jesus…"

"-and then Blood Falcon tried to slap my ass, so I punched the bloody wanker down to the floor!" said Rose.

Chiya began to laugh, "Kind of like when Earl tried kissing me, and I slapped him onto the ground."

"Yeah, I remember that!" Rose spat out with a chuckle.

Chiya's smile began to fade away as she nodded, she then looked at Rose with a serious face, "So-o, wanna' go shopping or something?" she proposed. Rose grunted and widened her eyes, Chiya then smiled, "We can go get some food and talk some more!" she said excitedly.

Rose blinked at her a few times, then got a maniacal smile, "Hell no, cause I'd have to kill you then."

Chiya gasped and moved away from her, "Wh- what? I thought we were really connecting!"

Rose began to chuckle, "I agree, but I still have to kill you…"

Chiya began to pout sadly at her, "I thought we could be friends…"

Rose shook her head negatively, "There's only room for one Chiya, and that's me-the superior Chiya Flower!" Chiya gasped and shook her head negatively, "I dream of seeing your blood splattered on the ground, I wanna' feel the blood…"

"What the-"

"But that isn't enough, first I need you to suffer-by killing those you love as well!" Chiya continued to shake her heard negatively, "I'm currently fabricating a reason to go kill mom and Abby, but Black Shadow finds this pointless and doesn't want me to do it…"

Chiya let out a loud gasp, "You wanna' kill mom and Abby!? But I love them!"

Rose then began to chuckle, "Ye-eah, me too, but sadly they have to die by my hands…" Chiya swallowed and put her hand over her mouth, "Of course I'll have to kill Earl while I'm at it…"

Chiya then got a furious look on her face, Rose then raised her hand out of the water and chuckled, "But first I wanna' kiss Earl, maybe even _play_ with him a bit first…" Rose got a dazed look on his face, "I'd probably slit his neck as soon as we're done playing around with each other…"

Chiya launched herself up and looked down at her furiously, "You're not killing anyone!"

She then grabbed Rose's neck and began to squeeze tightly, Rose began to laugh as she was about to be strangled, "Careful now Chiya, if I so much as scream-you'll be killed by the committee!"

Chiya continued to grunt at her, realizing the truth in this. Rose lifted up her foot and placed it against her belly-pushing her away. Chiya grabbed her foot and forcibly sent her under the water. Rose momentarily came out from the water with widened eyes.

"You little witch…"

Chiya narrowed her eyes at her, "I thought _you_ were the witch."

Rose then quirked her mouth at her and momentarily grabbed Chiya's towel that she had dropped. Rose got out of the spring and wrapped herself immediately, she then began walking away with nothing else to say. Chiya watched as she left, but then widened her eyes.

"Hey! That was my towel!"

Rose swished her hand at her and began to chuckle, "Yep, and I didn't bring one-have fun!"

Chiya began to whimper as Rose had left her with nothing to cover up in. She then lowered her eyebrows angrily and slammed her fist down, "Like Hell you'll kill the ones I love…" she muttered angrily.

The race was to begin the next day, but Chiya knew that she had to stop Rose from killing her mom and sister-but with the bounty she has on Mysteria, Rose currently had the upper hand…

To be continued…


	34. Lap 33

==Lap 33=

Dear diary…

Chiya wrote with fancy cursive lettering, it was now about midnight and she was alone in her bedroom-Seppuku and Earl had already left for their room, Chiya was authorized access to her own room; it did have two beds though. Chiya was wearing her glasses as she wrote. _Today, Earl and Seppuku persuaded me to get butt naked and get in a hot spring with several other girls, those two proceeded to hang out with each other in the men's section…without me….again…._ She then sighed and softly placed her pencil on the next line. _At first I was very uncomfortable getting naked in front of all those people-it was nothing new considering family nudity was a thing on Mysteria, but I never got naked in front of strangers, kinda' creepy… _she began to bite her eraser and nodded momentarily. _I found that this was extremely fantastic, I'm hoping I can go back one more time after the big race here, but Earl hates this planet, and Seppuku doesn't like being away from his desk for long-so sadly I may not get another chance, thank God I didn't chicken out today!_ Chiya then moved down and started a new paragraph, there was a small sketched chibi sketch of Earl to the side of the page. _The biggest surprise by far though, was when I turned around and found a naked person behind me-only the bodily features were exactly like mine-even the lady parts were like mine, that's when I realized that I was indeed looking at myself; it was Dark Rose!_

Chiya smiled and kicked her feet around in the air, "I should be a writer."

She just jumped in right next to me and immediately got up close and personal-she kept stepping on my foot, and I'm very self-conscious about my feet…while things were bad at first naturally, I was really surprised to see her begin to whine and complain about not having a beloved cat like Mauser anymore-surprisingly, I felt really bad for her…so I comforted her.

Chiya smiled as she thought back to this moment, feeling that she did the right thing-even if Rose is a dark hearted villain. _After a while though, we were talking! Like friends! I couldn't believe it, we were even laughing together when we started talking about the clumsy things Earl has done in the past, a few times we even compared Seppuku and Black Shadow-the two are somewhat similar…I was so crushed when she later informed me that she desired to kill me, my family, and Earl, I don't understand how she could want to do that! We were becoming such good friends, it's not fair!_ Chiya now had a distressed look as she prepared to conclude the diary entry. _Even though she threatened to kill everyone that I love, I still find myself feeling bad for her… she's a slave to Black Shadow-but can she be saved? What if Black Shadow dies, is she free then? Both Dark Rose and Excalibur are strange enemies, and I have a feeli-_

At that very moment, Earl had angrily kicked open her door. Chiya jolted up startled and closed the diary, "Woah now!"

Earl was carrying his blanket and pillow as he angrily marched over to the bed beside her, "You can do whatever you want, perfume, nails, giggle, watch a chick flick, even sketch me if you want-but I'm done sleeping in that room!"

Chiya grunted as Earl began setting up camp around the other bed, Chiya had instantly lost her privacy, "Oh, um, cool I guess…" she then puckered her lips at him, "What happened?"

Earl leapt onto the bed and turned his head away from her, "I don't want to talk about it, Seppuku's an ass-let's just leave it at that."

Chiya lowered her eyelids and smiled at him, "Well now I really wanna' know…"

Earl swished his hand at her as he laid his head down on the pillow, "It's a sexual matter he discovered, cause he had to be a jerk in the Onsen and…"

Chiya blinked at him a few times with a slight smile, he then sarcastically chuckled, "Eh, anyways, as I said, just do whatever-but I need asylum from that guy."

She then got on her knees and puckered her lips while wiggling her fingers, "So I can tickle you until you feel better?"

A dazed looking Earl slowly turned his head towards her with a grin, "Maybe I should just sleep in the living room…"

Chiya gasped and began to shake her head constantly, "No! This sounds a lot more fun anyways, I don't know why I didn't consider you just staying here with me in the first place."

Earl shrugged, "You felt that it would be uncomfortable since we're different genders."

Chiya swished her hand at him and let out a laugh, "Whatever, we can just stay up all night watching TV," she then grabbed a remote from the desk in between the two beds and turned on the large TV across the room, it was automatically on a military channel, "See? Now we can watch war movies before these big races!"

Earl grinned at her and nodded, but simply laid his head back, "Sounds awesome, but I really must retire."

Chiya frowned and momentarily nodded, "I see…" she then laid her head back as well and turned off the lamp, "Well I won't be a rude host, sweet dreams Earl."

Chiya then closed her eyes without needing a response from him, immediately rolling onto her side with a faint smile. She was prepared for her second race.

Seppuku was now outside of his room and was inspecting the _Red Dove_ and _Purring Kitten_ for any flaws Earl may have left out. He ran his hand across the metal of the _Red Dove_ with a blank expression, he could slightly see his reflection on the account of the lone shining light above him-the ship was dark everywhere else. Seppuku shook his head negatively as he then looked over at Chiya's door.

"How sad, she always wanted to be an F-Zero racer-and she's immediately forced into _my_ war."

The media was labeling the Grand Prix as a potential war, as Seppuku had forged an alliance to fight Black Shadow's alliance. Seppuku was simply wondering how hard they would need to work to win the war-they had taken out their entire alliance the past race, but now The Skull would be an enemy as well. The way it was looking, the only way to win would be to gain more allies-he knew he would have to work with Jody Summer eventually.

"That bat will never help me, God forbid the Federation do their job and keep the galaxy clean," he complained aloud. He then glanced over at the _Purring Kitten_ and sighed, "I guess I have no other option, I gotta' get Summer on my good side…"

The day had passed, and it was now late in the afternoon-and Chiya was only just waking up. The first thing she could hear in the room surprised her-it was Korean. She began to grunt and open her eyes slowly, she then yawned loudly as she looked in front of her with a dazed look; Earl then turned his head towards her and grinned, he was sitting on the end of the other bed.

"Morning princess," he greeted.

Chiya didn't respond, rather she glanced over at the TV, he was watching a Korean news channel. She then gasped at the sight of Earl on the screen in his military uniform-along with a photo of her in the corner.

"Wha- what am I doing on the news?"

Earl clapped his hands together and grinned at her, "Congratulations, your big speech to the Manchurians has caused a hu-uge debate."

Chiya gasped and widened her eyes, "Huh?"

Earl then held out both of his hands, "One portion of Korea now believes that I am a changed man, and that anything like that one movie should be censored and removed from the nation." Chiya smiled at him and nodded, "But, the other side is just as angry, now demanding that Japan extradites me back for proper punishment."

Chiya then frowned and shook her head negatively, "For what? You were acquitted of your crimes."

Earl let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Not in the eyes of the public." Earl chuckled at the TV, which was once again showing the moment where Earl was holding her-Chiya closed her eyes and growled at the screen, "Sorry that I had to ruin your Korean fan base…"

"Huh?"

"Pretty much every Korean and Manchurian knows that you are with me now, so many of them probably won't support your F-Zero racing career." Chiya frowned and dipped her head down, Earl licked his lips and shook negatively, "But don't forget, half of these people now support me because of you, so maybe you gained a lot too."

Chiya hummed and rubbed her chin, Earl then smiled at her, "Regardless, you're probably going to be the most viewed racer in Korea today."

"What's Seppuku doing?"

"Left for the track about two hours ago."

Chiya stomped her foot down, "Why doesn't he ever wait up?"

"Well, the race does start in like forty minutes…"

"What!? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Earl switched off the TV and grinned, "Like you said, beauty comes at a cost, so I think I'll always just stick around and wake you up an hour or so before the race." Chiya blinked a few times at him and rubbed her head uncomfortably, "Besides, you have to be well rested for these things."

Chiya nodded, "So-o, you just watch me sleep for hours?"

"Relax, you sleep as calmly and silently as an angel."

Chiya finally got up and got in her boots, she then raised an eyebrow at him as she stood up, "Now can you tell me what Seppuku did to provoke you?"

Earl immediately responded with a look of offense, "It doesn't concern you," he said coldly.

Chiya then grunted and dipped her head sadly, "Sorry…"

Earl slowly glanced away from her and kicked his feet across the floor a few times, "Uh, on an unrelated note…" she walked up to her bag and pulled out a toothbrush, "Just wondering, what do you think of men with small packages-pathetic? Weak? Boring?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows with a look of confusion, "Package? You mean like the cardboard box?"

Earl dipped his head down, "Uh, no, I just saw something on the news and…" he brushed his hair down slightly as he glanced up at her, "I mean the guy stuff…"

She continued to stare at him with a look of confusion, Earl was now gritting his teeth as he rubbed the back of his head, "You know, the body p-"

"Oh," she quickly answered.

She then widened her eyes briefly at Earl as he continued to look away from her, "A-ah, I never had relations before, and I'm not some pervert like all my friends were-therefore I don't care so much." Earl bit his lip and nodded, she then tapped her finger on her lip, "Quite frankly, it's the other way around that may frighten me a bit-I wouldn't want to be torn apart or something…"

Earl shrugged and let out a nervous grin, "What a good and honorable point you make."

Chiya then grabbed the toothpaste out of her bag as well, "I view _relations_ as the ultimate sign of affection-whoever I choose to do that with, is who I am definitely marrying."

Earl smiled and closed his eyes after nodding, "Good."

Chiya then began to blush and fake chuckle, "But anyways, I don't like talking about this stuff with a guy, so let's move on…"

Earl cleared his throat and nodded, "Yes, I found that news report fairly sexual and was just wondering what your stance on the matter was."

Chiya smirked at him and shook negatively, "Yeah, alright Earl…"

After Chiya had brushed her teeth, she rushed over to the _Purring Kitten_ with Earl-getting into the same position as last time; Chiya driving while Earl held on to the cockpit. Chiya was now wearing her large blue jacket, Earl was already shivering in his Bomber Jacket. Chiya puckered her lips and glanced at him.

"Want my hat?"

Earl shook negatively, "Seppuku's private booth won't be as cold, just get us to the track ASAP."

Chiya nodded and momentarily began to drive off the ramp, she hit the snow and was then driving towards the city. The first thing Earl noticed, was that she was doing something that provoked him once again-she was going too slow while staring at him nervously. Earl sighed and tapped his fingers on the cockpit.

"Faster, please?"

Chiya bit her lip and began to pick up speed, luckily for Earl she wasn't nearly as hesitant this time and was going at a fairly quick speed. Earl then groaned as the speed was causing a constant breeze to fly at his face. Chiya watched as he struggled to cope with the breeze, his hair was instantly being covered in snow as well; the littlest amount of snow was hanging on the bristles of his bangs. She then grunted and looked away from him, she mainly wanted to get to the track quickly so he could stop freezing.

"Lucky for you, I just put that AC and heater in the _Purring Kitten."_

Chiya then looked down at the dashboard and found that the machine had a whole new computer, "Oh, thank God!" she said happily.

Earl rubbed his chin as he contemplated, "Wonder if Seppuku would let me race with him, his machine has a very qualitative heater…"

Chiya looked around at all of the people around the city who were getting excited over her machine, she then smiled and looked back at him, "If you want to bail on the race and head back to the ship at any time, I'm fine with that."

Earl shook his head negatively, "Not with so many enemies at your neck-I'm with you until the end."

Chiya smiled at him, then got a look of discontent, "Keep an eye out for Dark Rose, she wants to have relations with you…"

Earl gasped and lowered his eyebrows, "Huh!?"

"Oh, and she wants to kill you too."

Much later, Chiya stood in the track garage alongside the _Purring Kitten_. She was staring out towards the track with a look of nervousness, the snowfall was now picking up greatly. _Bart was right, there's gonna' be a bloody blizzard during this race…_ she then kicked her feet around with a look of fear, there was a map of the track on the wall-the Flower Track. She approached it with a look of awe and shook negatively.

"The snow will make this hard enough, but this track's just a mess!" she complained aloud.

The track was in the shape of a four petal flower, there were ten sharp turns in total-the entire track was built off of nothing but constant turns. She rubbed her arms and bit her lip, momentarily walking back to the _Purring Kitten_ to grab her headset.  
"This weather is ridiculous, they should just hold the race off for a little bit…" she complained as she reached inside for the headset.

She then sat on the side of the opened cockpit and kicked her legs around while she waited for Earl to pick up. She was biting her finger nervously as she continued to look out at the track-it was only her second Grand Prix race and she was already faced with hazardous conditions that she was unfamiliar with.

"Set Chiya?" he initially asked.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and looked outside again, "Are you sure that this race won't be held off? I don't think I'll even be able to see who's in front of me."

"Not a chance, the committee loves these scenarios-just adds more challenge and suspense."

Chiya sighed and nodded, "I'll just have to get my game on then."

"Excellent, this is why I let you sleep for so long-you'll need to be very attentive to pull this one off…" Earl then cleared his throat, "I hate to say this, but there's another issue on the track…"

Chiya widened her eyes and grabbed her chin, Earl then sighed, "This track has traction pads."

"Which are?"

"If your vehicle moves over these-you instantly lose traction."

Chiya gasped and shook her head negatively, "How? These machines hover!"

"The traction pads are a bit raised and modified-your machine won't hover over this, rather you'll slide through it."

Chiya face palmed and groaned, "Geese…"

"At this time, we will introduce the racers!" the announcer shouted throughout the track.

Chiya gasped and leapt inside of her vehicle, she closed the cockpit window and turned on the heater, "Good luck Chiya, I'll be guiding you through this to the best of my abilities."

"We would like to kick off the second race of the annual Grand Prix with a moment of silence, as last race's winner has passed away…" Chiya slightly widened her eyes, then dipped her head down sadly, "Silver Neelson and the Night Thunder will be missed by fans everywhere…"

Not a single sound could be heard for the next few moments, Chiya remained sitting still in her chair with a sad look-Earl wasn't speaking either. _Rest in peace, Mr. Neelson…_ she thought while nodding.

"With that being noted, we will now introduce the current leader of the Grand Prix…"

Silver Neelson had taken first place on Fire Field-with him dead, the positions were now changed, "The vengeful Samurai and Pirate leader, Samurai Goroh!"

The _Fire Stingray_ drove right past Chiya's garage at a quick speed, Chiya was then reminded of the issue that Goroh wasn't ideally on friendly terms with her.

"Goroh was with Seppuku and me in the Onsen, I don't think we have to worry about him-but stay away from him none-the-less," warned Earl.

Chiya nodded to herself, nervously tapping her fingers around the wheel constantly.

"A cyborg and fan-favorite, Mighty Gazelle!"

Chiya then raised an eyebrow, "Earl, what about Gazelle-he helped us on Sand Ocean, would he forge an alliance with us?"

Earl hummed as he looked down at the _Red Gazelle_, "Tell you the truth, I never figured out if he has human or robot traits, if he's a robot then I'm sure he wouldn't-but I'm not quite sure…"

"A dark and isolated man, finally gaining some publicity, Lieutenant Seppuku!"

Chiya swallowed as she could hear the _Red Dove_, though she didn't actually see it. She prepared to take off as she would be introduced next. Earl began to chuckle as Seppuku made his way to the starting line.

"Don't run into Seppuku this time."

Chiya grunted and dipped her head, "I was just so nervous…"

"Newcomer to the world of F-Zero, born and raised on Mysteria, Chiya Flower!"

Chiya immediately gasped and hit the accelerator, her heart began to beat out of fear-as she was still someone who was shy and afraid of being watched. She quickly drove towards the track and made a left turn, now heading towards the starting line; she made sure to park to the right of the _Red Dove_. She then looked around constantly to make sure she did this sequence correctly, she momentarily looked up at Seppuku's private booth and found Earl giving her a thumbs up.

Seppuku got out of the _Red Dove_ and inched his finger at Chiya, ordering her to get out. Chiya blinked a few times at him, then nodded, "Be right back Earl…"

She set the headset down and exited the _Purring Kitten_, she began to walk towards Seppuku quickly.

"The living legend and icon of F-Zero, Captai-" the announcer then gasped.

The crowd began to panic and shout at the sight of something behind the _Blue Falcon_. Chiya stopped in front of Seppuku and looked down the track, then loudly gasped.

"What!?"

Seppuku simply nodded, "Told you."

The _Blue Falcon_ stopped behind the _Fire Stingray_-but what surprised everyone, was that the _Blood Hawk_ came without introduction. Blood Falcon was alive.

Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon both got out of their vehicles and approached the two, Chiya's eyes were quivering at the sight of Blood Falcon, "Th- that's impossible…"

"Uh, Captain Falcon! -and Blood Falcon, apparently…" the announcer said with a confused tone.

Captain Falcon was wearing a navy blue trench coat with white trimming-obviously a replica of his race outfit-only it was a coat. Blood Falcon was wearing the exact same thing, only his was bright red. Seppuku crossed his arms and growled at the sight of both Falcons-though he had to accept that Captain Falcon was temporarily an ally. Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon exchanged a dark stare as they approached Seppuku and Chiya.

Chiya shook her head constantly and decided to break the silence, "How did you survive!?"

Blood Falcon smirked at her, "You think Black Shadow would let me die that easily?" he then kissed Chiya's hand and began to laugh, "If there was an actual fear of me dying in these little races, then I wouldn't race at all-my death would greatly set back out master plan…"

Chiya grunted at the mentioning of his _master plan_. Captain Falcon crossed his arms together and gave Blood Falcon an intense stare, "Whatever the case, we won't give up-you clearly had a trick up your sleeve that helped you cheat death, but no one is actually immortal."

"Except Black Shadow!" he countered back with an evil smile.

Seppuku chuckled at him, "If Black Shadow were immortal, he would reveal himself-he's not immortal, just close to immortal."

Chiya gasped as she looked at Seppuku, _Come on then, what's he talking about..?_

"You'll find that the Blood Hawk has superior metal and glass-a little lava wasn't really gonna' stop me…"

Chiya swallowed and shook her head, "You mean, your machine could stand being in lava?"

Blood Falcon nodded affirmatively, "I will admit, I was somewhat frightened at first-wondering if I had actually been bested, but of course that would be ridiculous!"

Little did Chiya know, The Skull had been introduced while they spoke-only he didn't join in on the conversation, he approached the _Purring Kitten_ and began to chuckle. He was on the right side of the machine so Chiya wouldn't be able to see him. Skull moved his only hand up in the air and placed it on the glass of the _Purring Kitten_.

"You may have bested my first illusion, but let's see you figure this one out!" he shouted aloud as a purple field of energy began to cover the machine.

He then placed his hand off of the machine-Chiya would have no idea that he had cursed her machine. He then began moving back to the _Sonic Phantom_, he noticed that one of the large screens was centering on him. He approached the front of the _Sonic Phantom_ and placed his hand down on it-a purple beam began to connect with the _Purring Kitten_, but momentarily faded away. The two machines now had a mystical connection with each other.

Skull began to move towards the group, preparing to intervene on Blood Falcon's side. Jody Summer had momentarily approached the group with a stern look on her face. She was wearing a brown jacket over her racer uniform.

"I don't know how you're still alive Blood Falcon, but I'm going to get the committee to side with me one way or another-you're not going to be racing much longer!"

Chiya crossed her arms at Jody, "His machine can withstand la-"

"Shut up," she spat back at Chiya.

Chiya gasped and widened her eyes angrily at Jody, Seppuku then began to laugh, "Thank you, Summer."

"Hey!" Chiya complained.

Captain Falcon looked at Jody and quirked his mouth, "Mrs. Summer, I highly recommend you and the Federation side with Chiya and the Lieutenant-don't let personal tension with the two cloud your mission."

Jody shook her head negatively at Captain Falcon, "I'm sorry Falcon, I can't-I would never side with such a sick person," she said pointing at Chiya, "-and a childish man who gets a thrill out of slaughtering," she said giving Seppuku an angry look.

Chiya's eyes were quivering at the title_ sick person_-Jody was one of the few who knew what she had done on Mysteria. Seppuku growled back at her and stomped his foot down, "I'd rather spend the day picking flowers with Chiya than working with you! Yet I'm still willing to work with you…"

Blood Falcon swished his hand at Seppuku, "What good could the Federation do you?"

"An extra hand."

The Skull then approached the group and got aside Blood Falcon, Chiya widened her eyes at the sight of the skeleton-she had never even heard of him before the night he attacked the base with his illusion curse.

"Oh my- you're a monster!" Chiya panicked as she looked at the skinless figure.

"How very rude of you…"

Earl was staring down at the group of racers, wondering what they could be saying to each other. The only person he was staring at was Chiya-as he viewed her as the most interesting of the bunch. He rubbed his chin with a grin as he observed her, she had a serious yet panicky look on her face-he found that the large blue jacket on such a small person was cute.

"Wonder what her old friends think of her now…" he pondered aloud.

"My friends were very sexual and troublesome, I'm sure their not surprised to see that I turned out far better."

Earl then spun around quickly and found that Dark Rose was once again behind him in her black trench coat, Earl immediately growled and clenched his fists, "What do you mean? You weren't created until this year!"

Rose shrugged at him, "I've always been alive, I'm just the blood that finally escaped from her vessels-now a living being." Earl grunted and took a step back towards the window, she had a vicious smile on her face, "I _am_ Chiya, just a copy-and once I kill her, I'll be the only one," she then shut one eyes and tapped her finger on her chin, "Maybe I'll join the Grand Prix afterwards-I do possess her racing talent."

Earl stomped his foot down and shook his fist at her, "Liar, you're nothing like Chiya-she's sweet and fragile, you're just a pitiful clone!"

"I'm a bloody witch…"

She then smiled and closed her eyes, "You're just like Excalibur-except more explosive…"

"I'm explosive because your trying to kill my best friend!"

Rose smirked at him, "Help me kill Chiya, and I'll be your friend with benefits…"

Earl narrowed his eyes at her, "You're sick and perverse, Chiya's nothing like that-why would I want to trade her for you?"

Rose began to laugh as she walked up to the window and looked down at Chiya, "Oh really?" she then looked down at her and rubbed her hands together, "She and me had an interesting conversation about you while at the Onsen…"

Earl widened his eyes and shook negatively, "Well I don't wanna' hear about it."

Rose looked back at him and put her hands together, momentarily cracking a grin at him, "So you don't want to know about _her_ desires?"

Earl's eyebrow began to twitch as he stared at her, somewhat wanting to know if Chiya actually had a sexual desire for Earl-but he exhaled and shook negatively, "No, I don't-now get the Hell out."

Rose puckered her lips angrily and tapped her finger down, "Come on, don't you wanna' know if she's just a tad bit on the perverse side?" Earl then leaned over the edge and held his cheek as he looked at Chiya, shaking his head negatively, "You could probably take advantage of her, and she'd let you-I know I would."

Earl got a smug look on his face and pounded his fist down angrily, "That's enough! I don't want to know that, I like her for who she is-I'm not trying to get under her clothes, not at all!"

Rose then exhaled and shook negatively, "You'll regret not taking the opportunity up, because soon she'll be dead-and you'll never get the chance."

Earl grunted and looked back at Chiya, he got a saddened look on his face-wondering if she had a point. Rose then smirked at him and crossed her arms, "A shame, she'll never get to bear a child like she always wanted, the Flower name will thus die-unless Abby has a child."

Earl continued to stare at Chiya nervously, but momentarily shook his head negatively. He then smirked to show that he wasn't afraid of her threats, "You won't get the chance to kill her, not with me around."

Rose then growled at him, "You dumbass…"

"If she dies, than I die-if you kill her, I'll throw all my cards down to find you…" he then began to turn red as he grinded his teeth, "-and I won't just kill you, I'll make you suffer…"

Rose got a slight grin on her face, "O-oh, you don't normally get this dark sounding…"

"I know one thing for sure, if you managed to kill me-Chiya would do the same, she would never let you get away with it-nor will I!"

Earl then began walking towards the wall, there was a phone connected to it. Rose grunted in confusion, not understanding what this was, "A phone?"

Earl immediately pressed a button and lifted the phone up to his face, Rose tapped her foot down a few times as she anxiously waited to see what he was doing.

"Hello, I have an intruder harassing me in Lieutenant Seppuku's private F-Zero booth, I need someone to come down and remove her. Rose gasped and took a step back, "Sexual harassment and death threats, please remove her."

Rose began to look around every direction with a look of shock, within mere moments, two vested F-Zero officials charged in the room with assault rifles and stun batons. Rose widened her eyes and gasped, Earl immediately pointed at her.

"She is an uninvited guest, please get rid of her!"

Rose growled at him and began to walk towards the men with her hands in the air, she had a frantic look on her face-as she was the clone of Chiya who would react this way. Rose held her hands out towards the men as if she were about to be cuffed, but she then let out a maniacal laugh and leaped over them with superhuman abilities. Everyone gasped and the men immediately lifted up their assault rifles.

"Chow!" she shouted as she immediately dashed out the booth.

Earl continued to stare at the door with a look of shock, then turned around towards the starting line again-everyone was still talking with each other.

"You seem to misunderstand Seppuku, by the end of this Grand Prix-there will be an all out war on the track, we can get more people on our side-like Michael Chain, Samurai Goroh, Antonio Guster-"

"Michael Chain's no longer a racer," Chiya said interrupting Blood Falcon.

"You understand where I'm coming from though…" Blood Falcon then held his hands up in the air, "This will be the first Grand Prix to include a death race-there hasn't been one since the F-Zero X Grand Prix!"

Chiya grunted and looked at Seppuku, "D- death race?"

"I'll explain later…"

Jody shook her fist at Blood Falcon, "If it _does_ get to that point, then yes-me and the Federation will side with Seppuku, so you best not expand your little alliance."

Blood Falcon began to chuckle, "Oh dear, not the Federation!" he joked, he then crossed his arms together, "Maybe it would be a little more frightening if you had someone like Rick Wheeler actually race…"

"Rick Wheeler and Lily Flyer race whenever they can, but both are in reserves for a more serious conflict that could erupt," she brushed her hair aside and looked at Seppuku, "If something as bad as the Red Star attack happens again, we need good F-Zero pilots that can stop criminals on the road."

"At this time you may start your engines!"

Everyone suddenly gasped, neither of the six had realized that everyone was now introduced.

"Oh God!" Chiya panicked as she ran back to the _Purring Kitten_.

Seppuku instantly ran to the side of the _Red Dove_ and leapt inside, smoothly landing right inside of his chair.

Chiya put her headset back on and nodded after closing the cockpit window, "Back, let's do this!"

"Dark Rose showed up, but I made her leave."

Chiya grinned, "Good."

Chiya then gasped in confusion at the sight of something different, she rubbed her chin and tilted her head as she was now sitting to the right of the _Blood Hawk_, the _Red Dove_ was now to the far left, and the _Fire Stingray_ was behind her. The _Sonic Phantom_ was now in front of her, rather than the _Red Gazelle_.

"Huh?" she muttered in confusion.

"Hm?"

Chiya continued to look around in confusion, the F-Zero machines were now in completely different areas, "I- I could've sworn that I parked right next to…" she then shook her head negatively and grabbed her steering wheel.

"Whatever…" she said brushing it off.

"Well this time you start off right next to Seppuku, so just keep up with him and you'll do fine."

Chiya raised an eyebrow and looked to her left, "Uh, no, I'm starting off right next to the Blood Hawk…"

Earl let out a confused hum, "Uh, okay then..?" Chiya lowered her eyebrows and shook her head again, "You feeling alright Chiya?"

She nodded to herself and let out a determined smile, "Yes, let's win this one!"

To be continued…


	35. Lap 34

==Lap 34=

Three. Two. One. Go!

Chiya lowered her eyebrows with a determined look, she immediately started the race off by bouncing off of the _Blood Hawk_-which was to her left. She then slid in front of the machine and continued going up the track.

"Woah, that was a bit rough don't ya' think?" asked Earl.

Chiya raised an eyebrow and looked back at the _Blood Hawk_, "Uh, okay..?"

Chiya was in third, right behind the _Sonic Phantom_-the _Blue Falcon_ was in first. Chiya squinted her eyes and gritted her teeth as she tried looking past the constant snowfall, she could easily see the _Sonic Phantom_ ahead of her, but not the _Blue Falcon_. Chiya wasn't so concerned about gaining the lead, rather she was focusing on where each turn would be.

"Sharp turn coming up in about five seconds," warned Earl.

"Got it."

She then began to hug the safety rail, she lowered her eyebrows nervously; she couldn't see very far ahead of her at all. Momentarily she saw the _Sonic Phantom_ turn, so she began to turn as well-she immediately exhaled in relief after getting through the first turn with no problems.

"So real quickly, Seppuku won a bet with me, and now he wants me to make a bet with you," Chiya hummed slowly with a nervous tone, "The bet has to be that loser dyes their hair blue, the bet we make can be over anything; I assumed this race would be a good place to make the bet."

Chiya got a grin on her face and began to chuckle, "What if I refuse?"

Earl grunted, "Oh, I guess I'm screwed then, eh?"

Chiya laughed at him and swished her hand in the air, "Just kidding, yes-name the bet, because I'm trying to race here…"

Chiya was passed by the _Blood Hawk_ and _Fire Stingray_, the _Red Dove_ was now closely behind her. She growled as she looked back at the _Red Dove_. _Why the Hell aren't you up here helping me?_ she thought in frustration. She looked to the left side of the track and found that there was a long shiny blue stretch-she was assuming that this was the traction pad Earl had been talking about. _All I need to do then is stay to the right…_

"Okay, if you win the race then I dye my hair-if Seppuku wins, then you do."

Chiya narrowed her eyes, "Well that's a bit unbalanced…"

"Nonsense, just because Seppuku's in front of you, doesn't mean that he has an advantage-boost power is what usually changes the race."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and grunted in confusion, she then looked back at the _Red Dove_, "But, I'm leading Seppuku…"

"Chiya, Seppuku's in third right now."

Chiya then made her second turn and lowered her eyebrows in confusion, looking back at the _Red Dove_ again, "No-o, the Red Dove is clearly right behind me-I can see Seppuku right in the window."

"Hm, maybe the broadcast is out of sync or something, cause I'm seeing the _Blood Hawk_ behind you."

Chiya chuckled, "No, the Blood Hawk is in third right now."

"Well I'm seeing Seppuku in third right now tailing Mighty Gazelle."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and shook negatively, "That's not right…"

The _Red Dove_ then came closer up to her side, just about neck-and-neck with the _Purring Kitten_. Chiya glanced over at the _Red Dove_ and nodded.

"Look out!" yelled Earl.

The _Red Dove_ then rammed into the _Purring Kitten_ roughly, then bounced off of her and continued up the track. Chiya gasped and flailed her hand in the air as the _Iron Tiger_ passed her as well.

"What the Hell!"

"Well yeah, he's a bad guy-what'd you expect?"

Chiya puckered her lips angrily as she tried catching up to Baba. "I knew he was mean, but come on-that was just harsh!"

"I'll buff out those scratches later, just focus on keeping a foothold, you'll catch up once you enable boost power."

"Aye."

She then looked back and saw that the next closest racer was Antonio Guster, who had somehow made it all the way up to the front. "Bollocks…"

"He probably doesn't feel to good towards you right now Chiya, attack him if you want-but just remember, you don't want to commit too much imperialism on the track, or you'll be viewed as a scum racer like Goroh."

Chiya bit her lip and repositioned herself to the front of the _Green Panther_, trying to block its path. She then looked up at the track and narrowed her eyes at the _Iron Tiger_-Baba was somewhat of a rival in Chiya's eyes because of the sexist remarks he made each time they crossed paths. The visibility had just gotten worse at that moment, Chiya slammed her fist down angrily and growled.

"This is so unfair! The damn snow makes this impossible…"

"Just stay calm Chiya, no one else is having an easier time…"

She then lowered her eyebrows and made the next turn, she then shook her head negatively, "Except that I need glasses…"

"Then wear them."

Chiya shook her head negatively to herself, "No, I look like a nerd…"

"Nah, you look great with glasses."

Chiya sarcastically chuckled, "None of the guys at my school thought so, I was called names…"

She looked back again at Antonio Guster, who she was successfully blocking up to this point, if he wasn't originally provoked by her-he was now. Chiya squinted at the _Iron Tiger_ with a troubled look, she was suddenly getting closer to it-but way too quickly.

"Turn!"

Chiya then gasped at his warning, realizing that the _Iron Tiger_ didn't spot the turn on time and had crashed into the safety railing. She just barely made the turn, nearly crashing herself into the railing as well-she very well could have started a catastrophic pile up by crashing as well. She exhaled in relief and looked up ahead, she could see the _Red Dove_ trying to manage as well.

"Why isn't he trying to help me?" asked Chiya.

"I don't know, maybe because he doesn't like you?"

Chiya frowned and dipped her head down, "Seppuku likes me…" she defended.

"No, Blood Falcon…"

Chiya shook her head in confusion, she was clearly staring at the back of the _Red Dove_-not the _Blood Hawk_. Chiya licked her lips and blinked a few times, realizing that Earl was of no help to her. _He must be having trouble seeing because of the weather…_ she concluded. The _Green Panther_ had then passed her, luckily Guster showed no desire to attack Chiya.

"Should I turn up the maximum speed?" asked Chiya.

"Know your limitation, if it's too hard to see through this blizzard, then just focus on staying in the top six."

Chiya slammed her fist down, "No, I wanna' win," she said as she moved the speed limiter to the orange zone.

The _Purring Kitten_ then began to purr much more loudly, her machine was slowly catching up to the _Green Panther_-the question she was now faced with, was whether she could trust him. Chiya was suddenly alarmed at the sound of an explosion, she then looked back and could see a bright orange flare behind the thick snowfall.

"Woah!" Earl yelled.

"What! What!?" Chiya panicked.

Earl grunted loudly as there was now a large fire on the track, "Blaskovitz! He just- sweet Jesus…"

"What!?"

"He practically destroyed the Golden Fox!"

Chiya gasped and looked back again, the bright light of the fire was all she could see that was at a distance, "Oh my God! Is he okay?"

Earl didn't respond for a few moments, Chiya made another turn and had passed Guster-she was now frightened by what had just happened to Dr. Stewart, and whether he was alive or not. Chiya bit her lip and continued to tremble as she awaited for Earl's response, he was completely silent. Chiya then found that she was almost neck-and-neck with the _Red Dove_.

"They're bringing a stretcher out onto the track-but the broadcast is saying that he's alright."

Chiya exhaled in relief, "Blaskovitz…" she growled.

The _Purring Kitten_ was then perfectly aligned with the _Red Dove_, Earl immediately gasped however, "Chiya, move!"

"Huh?"

She was then rammed into yet again, this time being run right across the side rail-Chiya gasped as she watched the _Red Dove_ send her in a trail of sparks. She immediately hit the brakes and let the _Red Dove_ continue up the track alone.

"Chiya! What the Hell is up with you!"

Chiya let out a loud gasp and shook her head negatively, "Me!? Why is Seppuku attacking me!?"

"Blood Falcon! That's the Blood Hawk! You clearly need to wear your glasses!"

Chiya then growled and gripped the wheel more tightly, "It's the bloody Red Dove!" she challenged.

"No, it's not-you're obviously having troubles on the track right now, so just do as I say!"

Chiya's eyes then began to water as she got a frustrated look, "Why are you being so mean to me..?" she asked with hurt feelings.

"I'm not being mean, I'm trying to keep you alive!"

Chiya shook her head constantly, she was clearly looking at the back of the _Red Dove, _"I- I know that's the Red Dove, it doesn't even look l-"

"Jesus, that's gonna' take forever to buff outta' your machine…"

Chiya then widened her eyes and gasped, she then wiped the water out of her eyes as her mouth began to quiver sadly, "I- I have to go…" she said uneasily.

"What?"

"I can't talk to you right now!" she spat out sadly.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold your horse-"

Chiya then tossed the headset off of her head and looked back towards the track, completing her final turn-she was now heading straight towards the checkpoint. Chiya gritted her teeth sadly and shook angrily. _What the Hell is going on..?_ she thought furiously.

She then passed the line, entering her second lap-she was now authorized to use boost power. Chiya immediately lifted a cap open on her wheel and boosted back up towards the _Red Dove_. Chiya was narrowed her eyes at the _Red Dove_ angrily-now believing that Seppuku was self-serving.

"So much for the bloody alliance…" she muttered angrily.

She glanced back down at the headset sadly, feeling bad that she threw Earl out the door so quickly; none-the-less, she knew that he would only bother her more. Chiya then boosted again, putting herself right in front of the _Red Dove_, she had no intentions of assisting Seppuku if he was willing to damage the _Purring Kitten_ so much over a race. She then looked up ahead and could see the _Fire Stingray_, she narrowed her eyes and licked her lips-wondering if he would attack her. She then looked at the headset again and finally sighed, putting it back on her head after completing a turn.

"Okay, where's the restoration pad?"

Earl exhaled in relief, "Sadly, it's near the end, you either take the restoration pad or a shortcut."

Chiya shook her head negatively, she felt that the restoration pad was the superior choice, "Thank you, do I need to worry at all about Goroh?"

"No, just The Skull-unless Blood Falcon catches back up to you."

Chiya nodded, "Where's The Skull?"

"Right in front of you."

Chiya sighed and dipped her head down, "Okay, _that_ is clearly the Fire Stingray…"

"What are you-" he then grunted and didn't complete his sentence, "That is the Sonic Phantom, Chiya…"

Chiya began to laugh at him, "I think I know a fat pink machine when I see it Earl…"

Earl pounded his fist down and growled, "Okay, something is seriously wrong right now…"

Earl walked up to the screen in the booth and placed his finger on a tab, it immediately opened up a positions tab. He moved up the list and found Chiya's name.

"Right there, Blood Falcon-Sixth; Chiya Flower-Fifth; The Skull-Fourth; Lieutenant Seppuku-Third; Mighty Gazelle-Second; and Captain Falcon-First."

Chiya gasped and looked around in confusion, "Bu- but- that's impossible! I can see the flames on the Fire Stingray right now!" she then turned her head back, "-and the crimson red paintjob of the Red Dove, no yellow on the front."

"Chiya, for God sakes! Samurai Goroh is in ninth place right now!"

Chiya began to boost forward out of anger, the _Green Panther_ then boosted past the _Red Dove_ and came up behind her again.

"Chiya, just trust me-that's The Skull in front of you!"

Chiya swallowed and continued to stare at the _Fire Stingray-_she was hardly able to concentrate on the account that nothing was making sense to her at this point. It was then that Chiya gasped-the _Blood Hawk_ had then stopped way up ahead and got neck-and-neck with the _Fire Stingray_.

"Thank God!" said Earl.

Chiya widened her eyes and shook her head negatively, "Huh?"

The _Blood Hawk_ then violently rammed the _Fire Stingray_ against the railing; the _Blood Hawk_ then began to slow down and stay close with the _Purring Kitten_. Chiya continued to make grunting sounds as the machine soon came neck-and-neck with her-she was panicking.

"Good, now that you two are toge-"

Chiya then side attacked the _Blood _Hawk, putting a large gash onto the right side and sending it against the left safety rail. Chiya smiled victoriously and threw her fist in the air.

"Woohoo!" she cheered.

"Chiya! What the Hell are you doing!?"

Chiya immediately widened her eyes and looked back, she was clearly looking at a very beat up _Blood Hawk_-but not destroyed.

"I- I just gave him a what for…"

"Who the Hell do you think has to repair that!?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and hummed, "I presume Black Shadow or someone-"

"No, I do!"

Chiya made a sharp turn and gasped again, "You- you're working with Black Sh-"

"Get a hold of yourself! You just nailed the Red Dove!"

Chiya then ran over a restoration pad and collected energy again, she was now in third. She held her forehead and shook negatively, her eyebrow was twitching angrily as she looked back.

"I can see the white words, _Blood Hawk_ and the _25_ numbers on the side of the machine…"

"Sonic Phantom boosting right towards you, look out!"

She tried looking back, but could only see the large bulking pink _Fire Stingray_ coming up.

"Earl, I only see Samurai-"

She then widened her eyes as she finally looked somewhere else in her machine-her side view mirror. She could clearly see the _Sonic Phantom_ behind her, she then gasped and looked in back of her again-but could see only the _Fire Stingray_.

"O- oh my God, the mirror, I can see the Sonic Phantom only in the mirror…"

Earl began to hum, "Only in the mirror?"

"If I look behind me, I see Goroh; if I look in the side view mirror, I see Skull."

Earl then let out a gasp, having once again put the puzzle pieces together.

"Skull's playing an illusion trick on you again…"

Chiya gasped and looked back, "Oh God!"

Chiya made another turn and boosted away from the _Sonic Phantom_-one problem was that she now aggravated Seppuku by accidentally attacking him, therefore she couldn't expect any help from him. She tapped her fingers around her wheel constantly as she looked up the track, the snowfall was just slightly beginning to calm down-as she could see the bright blue stretched out checkpoint. She would have one more lap to go.

Chiya then got a determined look on her face and pressed a button, her cockpit window immediately began to open. Earl grunted and began to hum again.

"What are you doing? You'll freeze that way…"

Chiya was now driving the _Purring Kitten_ with the cockpit window raised up in the air, she looked back and could finally see everything correctly with her own eyes. Earl was right however-at the speed she was going, she was practically in below-forty weather.

"I don't have much of a choice, it's the only way I can see things correctly…"

Earl grumbled aloud and nodded hesitantly, "Please be careful Chiya, I don't want you getting frostbite…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and looked down at her already freezing fingers, "How long do I have?"

"Not long enough, I'll literally kill you if you end up needing to amputate those hands or cheeks."

Chiya sighed and licked her lips, she was then passed by the _Red Dove_-the two momentarily crossed the checkpoint, entering their final lap. She was then passed by The Skull as well, her initial reaction was that of great anger. She boosted yet again and got to the side of the _Sonic Phantom_-she didn't hesitate to ram straight into it. The two machines clashes, Chiya ultimately had the upper hand as she was pushing him towards the left with great speed. The _Blood Hawk_ had then passed her as well, Chiya was gaining a lot of fatigue at this point and was now growling loudly.

"Dammit!"

She then boosted away from the _Sonic Phantom_ and proceeded to chase Blood Falcon down.

Blood Falcon and Seppuku were now facing off with each other, though Captain Falcon had finally decided to intervene and come to Seppuku's aid. The _Blue Falcon_ immediately ran into the _Blood Hawk_ and prevented him from speeding up, Seppuku then initiated his role and side attacked the _Blood Hawk_. Blood Falcon was instantly sent against the right safety rail, but instantly boosted past both racers. Blood Falcon soon boosted even further up the track, soon vanishing into the snowfall. Seppuku and Captain Falcon immediately rushed back up the track together.

Chiya was still struggling to keep up with everyone else, the paintjob on the _Purring Kitten_ had taken serious damage at this point-it would be clear to anyone that she had been run against a wall on the account of the bright shiny grey rip going across the right side.

"Fingers?"

Chiya looked down at her hands nervously, they were very numb at this point. She swallowed nervously, but shook her head none-the-less, "They're fine," she lied.

"Cheeks?"

Chiya puckered her lips and lowered her eyelids, "Still kissable."

"Uh, great; you may want to consider taking the shortcut to the finish line this time, rather than the restoration pad."

She made a turn and began to breathe on her hands momentarily, desperate to get any warmth. She then cringed and gritted her teeth, "I- it's not fair, Skull's ch- cheating…"

"You liar, close the dang window Chiya-I'll just identify the racers for you."

Chiya bit her lip and looked down at the button that would close the cockpit, but to her misfortune-she didn't feel strong enough to even move her hand off the wheel. She momentarily nodded and began to move her hand slowly off the wheel.

"Chiya!"

Chiya widened her eyes and looked back up-but it was too late, she missed a turn and ran straight into the rail. Her entire body was suddenly sent forward with great force-luckily she was strapped in. She ended up hitting her head roughly against the dashboard of her machine.

"O-ow…" she groaned slowly.

"Chiya, please just close the cockpit!" he begged.

Chiya then put her foot back on the accelerator and got back on the track-but she had already fallen behind greatly now. She then quickly pressed the cockpit button and finally closed the window again; she had a dazed look as she had hit her head very hardly. She then began to whimper sadly as she was behind the _Deep Claw_-she knew that she had fallen far behind now.

She glanced down at her energy meter and found that the crash had inflicted a major consumption of energy-she was fresh out of luck.

"I can't believe this…" she muttered.

"Just stay calm…"

She then breathed in heavily and gripped the wheel tightly again, she was already faced with another turn. She began to hold her chest-a pain going through her body.

"God, I hope I didn't break anything…"

"You or the Purring Kitten?"

"Both."

"I can fix whatever might be broken-body or machine-wise."

She held her forehead and sighed, "I could sure go for a backrub about now…"

"I'll do that too."

Chiya then growled as she looked up at the _Deep Claw_, "Stop treating me like some crushed little girl…"

Meanwhile, Mighty Gazelle had just passed the finish line, he had taken first place, Blood Falcon second, Lieutenant Seppuku third, Captain Falcon fourth, Antonio Guster fifth, and The Skull sixth. Chiya had eventually made it past the finish line, but she had taken fifteenth place. Chiya continued to drive towards the garage again, neither Earl or Chiya had spoken. Only a long silence. Chiya then grabbed the headset and began to whimper again.

"Bye…" she muttered sadly as she put the headset away.

"It wasn't her fault, it was Skull!" Earl shouted at Seppuku.

"What are you talking about Bendek?"

Minutes had went by, and Seppuku was now back in the private booth with Earl-Chiya was still absent. Earl clenched his fists and shook at Seppuku.

"Skull put an illusion curse on her machine, everything was flipped around-the Red Dove was the Blood Hawk, the Sonic Phantom was the Fire Stingray." He then brushed his hair aside and gritted his teeth fiercely, "She didn't attack you on purpose, she thought you were Blood Falcon."

Seppuku crossed his arms together and lowered his head, "What happened? How did she manage to suck so badly?"

"She didn't suck, she was in third place for a while-she got screwed over because she had to drive with her damn cockpit open, just so she could see through the curse."

"-and?"

"She ended up crashing while trying to close it again, she should've rightfully been in the top six-but Skull cheated."

Seppuku then cracked his knuckles and growled, "Well, I already have one of his arms, as might as well finish the collection and get the other parts…"

Chiya then came walking into the booth slowly with her head dipped down, a look of sorrow covered her face. Earl immediately turned towards her and grunted, realizing that he would have to yet again be the one to fix her. She leapt onto the couch and laid down momentarily.

"Wow, I'm so depressed, I could literally die right now with no remorse…"

Earl frowned at her and shook negatively, Seppuku then began to chuckle, "Yeah I would imagine, I mean look at how much work you just gave Bendek in the garage!"

Earl then glared at Seppuku, "Hey, how about you go to Hell."

Seppuku began to wiggle his fingers at Earl as he began to walk away, "Actually, I'll pass-but I will see you back at the ship once you two get over your little problem."

Chiya then curled her legs up to her chest and turned around, now facing towards the couch. Earl continued to stand next to the couch with a sad look on his face, Chiya was silent and refusing to show her face. Earl's mouth began to quiver as he looked down at the sad Chiya, he then got a fake smile on his face and leapt onto the couch with her-grabbing her with both hands momentarily. Earl lifted her up to his lap and got a fake grin.

"Come on, we all get screwed in sports at some point-that's how it works."

Chiya was looking up at him with a look of shock, allowing him to hold her-but she momentarily sighed and dipped her head down again, "It's not fair, I just want to be an F-Zero racer…" she then wrapped her arms around her shoulders and shook negatively, "Why? I'm clearly good at it, why can't I just have a normal career without all these enemies and stupid mind tricks?"

Earl then frowned at her and set her back down on the couch, she immediately collapsed back onto the couch-but was sitting up. Earl sighed and crossed his arms together, "Well, you do have more on your plate than the average racer-but that only means that you'll get more of a fan base."

Chiya simply shrugged at him, "Chiya, do you want to leave?"

She then widened her eyes and looked at him, "Wha- what?"

"The gang war's over, Black Shadow is Seppuku's problem-not yours," she continued to stare at him with a look of confusion, "You and me, we just leave Seppuku, go and buy a place together elsewhere," she then gasped and widened her eyes at him with a quivering stare, "Maybe in Vietnam-controlled by the United Powers, but why not?"

She grabbed her forehead and shook in amazement, "So you're proposing that we ditch Seppuku, and go to Vietnam together? What about the Red Dove?"

Earl shrugged, "We're not getting paid much anyways, I'm the only one funding this organization-and Seppuku's an ass."

Chiya began to blush and could feel her heart beating, "Yo- you mean find another base to work at, in Vietnam, right?"

Earl lowered his eyelids and slightly looked away from her, "N-n-o, I mean, you know-we could just buy a house and…" he then swallowed and glanced at her for a bare moment, "I could be your mechanic…"

Chiya had the most unbreakable smile on her face-feeling that this proposal had nothing to do with F-Zero. She laid her head back against the couch and exhaled while beaming at him.

"Just think, Black Shadow won't want to kill either of us anymore, he's only trying to level the playing field so he can get Seppuku," Earl said with a smile; Chiya's smile then began to fade away at this point, "Maybe Rose will still want us dead-but she's not so tough, Seppuku can just fend for himself."

Chiya then sighed and dipped her head down, the perfect dream for her had just become a guilt trip for her. Earl began to lose his smile as well as he now noticed her look of discontent, he momentarily looked away from her and nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry-we don't have to necessarily live toge-"

"We can't leave Seppuku..."

Earl widened his eyes at her, "What? Why?"

Chiya looked him in the eyes and then got a stern look, "I'm only here because of him, I wouldn't have the pleasure of knowing you without him, and I would have…" she then put her hands together and dipped her head, "I shouldn't hide the truth, I would have been raped that fateful night if it wasn't for him-maybe even killed."

Earl sighed and nodded, "I see, so we both have an honor system then…"

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "You want to protect me, and I want to stick with Seppuku-you're absolutely right."

Earl closed his eyes and momentarily cracked a smile, "I'm sorry, that was wrong of me to try and take you away from him-maybe I was just thinking of myself too much for a moment…"

Chiya closed her eyes sadly, living alone with Earl without conflict would be the best gift she could ever ask for-even more than the _Purring Kitten_, but she felt obligated to stick with Seppuku until the end. She then opened her eyes with a smile and looked back at Earl.

"Come on, there's three more races for me to win-I'm not done yet!" Earl then smiled at her and nodded, "Besides, we'll still always live together…"

Earl then nodded with a smirk, "That we will."

Chiya then grabbed his shoulder and gave him a bright gleeful look, "Can we please go back to the Onsen one more time?" Earl grunted at her with a surprised look, "I didn't get to enjoy it that much because of Dark Rose."

Earl stood up and nodded, "Great! Let's go then!"

Chiya smiled and got up as well. The two then walked together towards the booth's door, Chiya then began to chuckle as she looked back at him. Earl then smirked at her.

"Hm?"

Chiya had a devious smile on her face as she turned towards him, "We're going to look so silly with blue hair…"

Earl widened his eyes, "Wha- what?"

"Neither me or Seppuku won-so now we both have to dye our hair."

Earl let out a loud gasp and face palmed, "Grea-at…"

To be continued…


	36. Lap 35

==Lap 35=

The race was over. Chiya had landed herself in fifteenth place, a sad result for her-but she wasn't prepared to let this kill her morale. There were more races, unfortunately for her the next planet they would be brought to was the one she dreaded going back to for more than six years-Mysteria. Chiya knew that things wouldn't go good if she returned to the planet, it wasn't like Earl's case with Korea at all, Chiya was actually wanted on her planet-their only chance would be to go into hiding when they got there. Fortunately Chiya had several days before they would have to return there, but one thing she knew for certain-was that it would bring back horrid memories.

It was now a bit past midnight and the three were back inside of Chiya's ship, it was ultimately decided that landing in Red Canyon would be too difficult in the dark, so they simply powered off the ship in the middle of space for the night; there was still electricity in the ship-only the ship itself wasn't running.

Chiya and Earl were together in their room, there was complete silence and only the simple light from the lamp kept the room dimmed. Chiya was sitting on her bed bored, pulling fuzz off of her black socks; Earl was laying back on his bed with Chiya's sketchbook in his hands. Neither of the two had been talking for several minutes, Chiya stuck her tongue out as she pulled another small grey bit of fuzz from her sole. She was constantly glancing over at Earl nervously as he observed each page she had drawn in-she was mainly fearing what he would think about the many drawings of him she did. She didn't only draw Earl however, many of her sketches contained pictures of herself, Mauser, F-Zero, Captain Falcon, and even beloved characters from her favorite stories. She glanced at him again and lowered her eyebrows; _I sure hope I'm not creeping him out, it's not like I'm a stalker or anything-drawing him constantly; he's just such an interesting character…_ Earl flipped another page and made a chuckling motion, but wasn't actually making any sounds. Chiya gritted her teeth, now concerned that he found these too childish looking-that was when she noticed something moving across the page. She widened her eyes at the sight of a pencil he was holding-he was writing things on each page. _What the Heck is he doing to my drawings!_ she complained in her head.

Chiya then stood up and puckered her lips, Earl hadn't even noticed that she got up on the account that she wasn't wearing her jackboots-she was very soft on her feet. Earl flipped a page and raised an eyebrow at a drawing of Chiya, it portrayed her holding her hand out with a smile. He quirked his mouth and began to lower the sketchbook.

"Hey Chiya, what are you reaching out for in-"

He then noticed that she was missing from her bed, he looked over his shoulder and saw that the door was now wide-open. He bit his lip and nodded, he then looked back down at the sketch and began to tap the pencil on his chin a few times. He then got a smile and lowered his eyebrows-beginning to add something into it.

About five minutes later, Chiya sat in the dark bridge with a soda in her hand, she was staring out into the massive amount of stars that surrounded the ship. She had her feet up on the powered off computer consoles as she simply relaxed-but she wasn't necessarily staring at the stars, rather she was focusing on one specific bright light that was far in the distance. Her eyebrows were lowered as she stared at the small glimmering light, she bit her lip as her eyes quivered at it.

"Mysteria…" she muttered.

She held her hand on her left cheek as she stared at her home planet, it was too far away to see any significant features-but she knew it was Mysteria never-the-less. She then began to enter a state of heavy contemplation, finally nodding with a calm look. _I'm nearly out of time, I've kept this secret with me for as long as possible-I have to tell Earl what I did…_

As if fate had just acknowledged her thought, Earl came up from behind her and sat in the other seat-he was drinking from a can of beer. Chiya jolted her head up surprised at him, then narrowed her eyes angrily at the can he was holding.

"Realize that if you're gonna' get tipsy, I'm sleeping with my gun."

Earl smirked at her, "You would shoot me? What would I be doing to provoke you that much?"

"Rape."

Earl shrugged at her and nodded, "Good reason, so you would have the strength to kill me if I were raping you?"

Chiya grunted and glanced away from him, she was hesitating to answer, "I mean…" she then cleared her throat, "Okay, I don't think I could ever shoot you Earl, but I would definitely hit you on the head…"

Earl dipped his head and began to chuckle, "Well, luckily I'm not a violent drunk-I get stupid."

Chiya began to giggle at him, "Yeah, isn't alcohol great?" she asked sarcastically.

Earl took a sip from the can and smirked, "And I'm certainly no sexual deviant."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "To my knowledge…"

He then narrowed his eyes at her, "The Hell does that mean?"

She puckered her lips and shrugged, "You've had a lot of girlfriends, I know where your lips have been, but not you're guy parts."

Earl stuck his tongue out with a look of disgust, "Geez, well I would never sleep with any of those girls; of all the girls I did meet, only one of them I ever considered going _that_ far with!"

Chiya growled with a look of annoyance, "Wow, she must be a great person…"

Earl blinked at her a few times, momentarily closing his eyes and chuckling, "Oh yes, you could definitely say that…" Earl then looked back out the window at all of the stars, "So you're just sightseeing then?"

Chiya nodded, "I find this fascinating, to think that every one of those little sparkles is actually humungous-and deadly…" she then brushed her hair down as she glanced over at him, "Would you believe me if I told you that I never even saw stars until I was eighteen?"

Earl widened his eyes, "What about on Mysteria, didn't you ever look up at the night sky?"

Chiya shook negatively, "Thick fog, never could see the night sky."

She then began to look at him with a look of slight distress, "Earl..?"

Earl moved his head towards her and nodded, "Yep?"

She lowered her eyebrows at him as she tapped her fingers together constantly, "The reason I have this bounty- well, I haven't been entirely truthful with you in the past…"

Earl widened his eyes, "How so?"

She quirked her mouth and continued to stare at him, though her eyes continued to go back and forth, "Um, I've been lying to you about something ever since I told you about my life on Mysteria…"

Earl felt as if something dropped inside of his body, he immediately nodded at her, "That's alright, I wasn't truthful about my war experiences-and look how it all turned out in the end."

Chiya nodded at him, finding this a true point, she then exhaled and dipped her head down, "I was eighteen, and me and my family did our weekly journey to the city-because we lived far out in the country, y'know…" Earl nodded at her quickly, hoping that this was finally where he learned about her past, she then lowered her eyebrows again and licked her lips while trembling, "We walked out of the supermarket that day, I was walking with Abby-who was only twelve at the time, she was kind of my best friend…"

"Which is why you felt comfortable getting nak-" he then shook his head negatively, "Go on please…"

"Little did we know, those last minutes was the last time we'd be a family-as we were suddenly covered in a shadow of darkness, the mysterious ship had come out of nowhere…" she then swallowed and grabbed her throat as her mouth continued to quiver, "We thought maybe this was just a new weapon created by our glorious government-but that's when the raping of our city had begun; lasers, bombs, bullets, everything was annihilating the city!"

Earl's eyes were widened at Chiya, she had a highly disturbed look on her face-he instantly recognized her expression as something he'd seen before; she had the same look soldiers got: Post-trauma.

"I uh…" she shook her head negatively, her eyes then began to water up slightly, "We were running for our car, I was practically dragging Abby with me as we rushed, my mom was panicking, and my dad just kept yelling on about the Federation attacking…"

Chiya then held her forehead and shook negatively, "Then- I just-" she then let out a disgruntled exhale and shook her head negatively. Earl was mostly shocked at how much more detailed she was being this time-he was actually having an easy time envisioning the dark scene. Chiya momentarily stood up with her eyes completely shot open, "I- I'm sorry Earl, I can't do it!"

Earl gasped and grabbed her hand, "Okay, okay, just breathe in a little now…"

Chiya began to hyperventilate as she pulled her hair-clearly going through a mental issue. Earl grabbed her hand more tightly, "Just let it go for now, breathe Chiya, breathe!"

"I just- I- I-" she then began to pull on her hair constantly, "I want my family back! Give me back my damn family!" she screamed after throwing her soda roughly on the floor.

Earl held his mouth in horror at what he was witnessing, Chiya then looked back down at him with a look of shock-momentarily shaking her head frantically.

"Okay, okay, your family is alive Chiya-your dad was killed by the bombs, not your entire family…"

Chiya bit her finger and closed her eyes at his statement, "No, no, no he wasn't killed by the b-" she then gritted her teeth and shook her head more frantically, "I need immediate bed rest!" she panicked.

Earl shook quickly in agreement, "Yes, bed rest is a good idea-let me tuck you in and bring you something to drink."

Chiya rubbed her forehead and finally exhaled, she then continued to breathe in a few times as she stood still. Earl raised an eyebrow at her and put his hand on her shoulder, "Better?"

Chiya's mouth quirked a few times, "Y- yes, I'm so sorry you had to see that…" Earl continued to stare at her, mostly fearful for her, "It's okay Earl, I'm just going to hit the bed for now, you can just relax…"

Chiya turned and began walking towards her room again, Earl held his hand out towards her, "Want me to tuck you in or anything?"

She shook her head negatively, "No, but thank you-I have a bit of a headache now and need to rest…"

Earl blinked a few times at her with a panicked look, "Uh, alright then, good night Chiya…"

Chiya then departed back into her room, leaving Earl standing out in the hallway with a completely shocked look. Earl had realized something that night at last, it wasn't that Chiya was being stubborn-it was that she was emotionally torn by whatever had happened. Earl was only more curious what had happened though-he now truly believed that Chiya needed this issue resolved, for the sake of her mentality and health.

Later in the afternoon, Chiya had returned back to Mute City and was happily sleeping in her bed. Chiya had immediately slipped into a slumber in the ship, but Seppuku had insisted on returning to Earth as soon as possible-meaning they had arrived in Red Canyon very early in the morning. Chiya was too tired to drive, so Seppuku let her continue to sleep in the back of the _Red Dove_ as Earl drove the _Purring Kitten_ for her. Without saying a word, Chiya had descended into her room and went back to bed-Earl had slept as well, but awoke much earlier in the day.

Chiya began to grunt as she felt something wet constantly run across her nose. She quirked her mouth as she tried opening her eyes and momentarily growled.

"Not funny Earl…" she muttered as she moved her hand up in front of her-but she was immediately confronted with the feeling of fur.

She opened her eyes and then smiled at the sight of Mauser right up at her face, "Oh, good morning."

Chiya was relieved to see that her cat still acknowledged her, as he was much more interested with Seppuku's office. While Chiya was still happy that Mauser could be free, she was also jealous and sad that he was becoming so attached to Seppuku-fearing that Seppuku could steal him from her. She then laid her head back again and closed her eyes with a smile, but she quickly shook her head negatively and got up while yawning.

"No-o, I've slept enough…"

She then leaped into her jackboots and turned on her lamp, she had a determined look on her face and whipped her fist up in front of her, "Alright! Let's see what Earl-"

She then quickly slipped and fell over as she moved towards the door, she roughly hit the ground. She immediately grabbed her knee and gritted her teeth, "Ga-ah…" she moaned.

She then looked down and gasped, there were bullets all over the floor-her ammo box had fallen off the table and spewed out everywhere. She immediately got up and gasped while trembling, "What the Hell!" she complained. She then narrowed her eyes and looked at Mauser, "You knocked this over, didn't you?"

Mauser didn't look at her, he simply sat on the bed silently. Chiya looked back down at the floor and face palmed, "There's like a thousand of these bloody things-this'll take forever to pick up…" she complained.

Chiya rubbed the back of her head and lowered her eyebrows, _My mom was the one who always cleaned up my room, I shouldn't have to do this, I'm not accustomed to cleaning rooms…_ With that very egoistic thought, Chiya shrugged and began carefully moving through the bullets-deciding that she would do it later.

Chiya soon approached Seppuku's office after finding no sign of Earl anywhere, she was assuming that he went to Bart's Café. Chiya quickly opened the door and forced herself inside of the office, she was immediately faced with Seppuku who was as always-at his desk.

"What?" he demanded.

Chiya puckered her lips and rubbed the back of her head, "Oh, nothing…" she then glanced up at him, "Was just wondering where Ea-"

"I expect you to help Bendek fix the Red Dove, since that was your fault."

Chiya grunted at him, but decided not to start the argument-simply submitting to his demand, "Very well."

Seppuku then continued to stare at her for a few moments, Chiya was trying to look him in the eyes-but was somewhat frightened of him. Seppuku then crossed his arms and nodded at her slightly.

"Bendek told me about last night…"

Chiya then widened her eyes and turned her head slightly, "What?"

"You're little breakdown, he claims you're suffering from a bad case of post-trauma."

She then gasped and dipped her head down, "I- I was hoping he would keep that between us…"

Seppuku put his hands together and quirked his mouth, "I found it fair to warn you, you're officially on the clock now," Chiya widened her eyes at him again, "You don't have to tell me, but I want you to at least tell Bendek about what happened to you on Mysteria, by the time we leave for Mysteria-or I'm bribing Summer to tell me."

Chiya gasped and took a step back, "That's not fair, I want to tell you guys-but I don't want to be judged or anything!"

"Then tell Bendek, he's not nearly as judgmental as I am."

Chiya then sighed and closed her eyes sadly, "The honest truth, is that I'm scared to tell Earl what happened…" she then slightly opened her eyes sadly while looking down at her boots, "I mean, what if he reacts the same way he did on Aeropolis, you know how that turned out…"

Seppuku slammed his fist down, "I'll kick his ass out of here then."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily at him, "No, don't do that, I just don't want him to think of me the wrong way…"

Seppuku swished his hand at her, "You have time, Bendek's bringing some anti-depressants home later for you."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "Where is Earl?"

Seppuku rubbed his chin and looked up, "Out of Mute City, he said that he was heading for a city a few miles away."

Chiya awed and stomped her foot down, "I wanna' see more of Japan too!" she complained, she then got a confused look on her face, "Wait, why's he out there?"

Seppuku shrugged, "He said he was gonna' go buy a ring for you." Chiya then widened her eyes and let out a loud gasp, "He's also bringing home some hot chicken, so don't ruin your appeti-"

"A ring!?"

Seppuku grunted and raised an eyebrow at her, "Yeah, a ring-he's buying a ring for you."

Chiya's mouth was open and quivering, wondering if she was hearing this correctly, "Earl's buying me a ring?" she asked in shock.

Seppuku shrugged at her, "He told me that after yesterdays events, it was abundantly clear to him that he had to buy a ring for you."

Chiya took a step back and got a dazed look on her face, completely shot in the heart by this surprise, "Oh my…" she muttered as she held her face.

"He knows good places to get affordable parts though, which is why he left fo-"

Chiya then spun around and gleefully went skipping back out the door, not allowing him to finish. Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her as she slammed the door shut happily. He then shook his head negatively.

"God, she's so weird…"

A few minutes later, Chiya kicked the bathroom door open wrapped in a white towel-she had a large smile on her face as she then ran straight to her room. She had left all her clothes on the bathroom floor, just like Seppuku hated.

She immediately kicked open her door, she even left her jackboots and stock hat in the bathroom. She continued to bounce up and down slightly in utter excitement, Mauser was staring at her with widened eyes as she squirming and giggling loudly.

"Oh Mauser! It's finall-" she then slipped on the bullets again and hit the floor roughly, her towel remained around her none-the-less, she rubbed her chin and growled, "Bloody H- well whatever, that won't stop my good mood!" she said excitedly.

She then leaped over to her drawer and through her towel in the air, immediately grabbing fresh and clean clothing. Chiya immediately strapped a pair of pink undergarments on-both the bra and panties were the same line of pink. Mauser leapt off of the bed and rubbed his head along her foot. She then lifted her foot up and began putting on black socks.

"Earl's buying me a ring, Mauser, and I think we all know what that means!"

She quickly put on her usual clothing-all that was missing was her stock hat and jackboots. She then quickly ran up to her mirror and sat in the small chair she had there, she finally lifted up the nail paint she had begun to apply when she was watching the romance movie with Earl-a night she didn't like to look back at. She quickly threw her socks off again and began carefully applying a very shiny bright-purple color to her nails. She then began to brush her hair as she painted her toenails.

"You see Mauser, Earl was going to surprise me with this ring today-I mean why not? Yesterday he proposed that he and me go live together in Vietnam, and now he's buying a ring for me, coincidence?"

The cat leaped back onto the bed but was still staring at her, somewhat amused at Chiya's overly energetic person. She was getting her hair perfectly combed in a way that made every strand of hair visible-she had just taken a shower to ensure that her hair smelled good.

She momentarily dropped her foot and wiggled her toes, then took the sock off of the other one, she then began painting the other nails, "See, I have the upper hand though, he meant to surprise me-but Seppuku spilled the beans, so now I get to prepare ahead of time!"

She was rushing through each nail, yet she was doing a qualitative job-she was very determined. She then moved her finger down her hair and smiled with her teeth, "Perfect!"

She then dropped the other foot and looked at herself in the mirror, she then gritted her teeth and looked around her mouth-but her teeth was fairly white. She then grabbed her shoulders and let out an excited squeal.

"I can't believe this is happening!" she yelled aloud.

She then approached her bed again and grabbed some mints she had next to the lamp-though she began to consume well over fifteen of the mints. Mauser glanced at her for a moment, then looked back at the door. Chiya momentarily pushed Mauser straight off of her bed onto the floor and began to straighten out her bed.

"Sorry buddy, I _could_ be needing this later…"

She then approached her garbage bin and rubbed her forehead with a somewhat disturbed smile-she momentarily reached down into her undergarments.

"Well, the key word-is _could_…" she said momentarily throwing something into the bin.

She then widened her eyes and began to bounce up and down again, she momentarily approached her socks again and put them back on.

"The way I see it; he'll come home, I'll immediately greet him with the new looking Chiya, he'll get down on his knees…" she then sat back down at the mirror and began to paint her fingernails, "He'll propose to me…"

She then closed her eyes and chuckled, "And I'll be all like-_Oh, wow, how unexpected!_" she carefully applied the paint to her fingernails, she then puckered her lips and nodded, "And he'll be all like; _Yeah Chiya, I love you, and want to be more than your engineer-also you're hotter than Dark Rose!_"

She kicked her feet around excitedly as she began to bounce her head up and down slightly, "We'll then passionately kiss, we'll express our thoughts about each other, then he'll sweep me off my feet!"

She then lowered her eyebrows nervously as she quickly finished the last nail, she then stood up and approached her bed, "And uh, he might bring me here, and lay me down…" she then put her finger on her lip and gritted her teeth nervously, "And, probably strip me naked…"

She then swallowed as she stared at the bed, she still had a look of excitement, but had a slight look of fear on her eyes, "And then…" she rubbed the back of her head as she looked at the pillow, "Sex?"

She grunted and dipped her head down, "I'm sure that'll be fun and romantic, he'll grab my chest and…" she then put her finger on her lip and squinted, "Uh, or I'll- no, he'll…" she then began to tap her foot down constantly, she momentarily scratched her head as she looked down.

"Well geez, I guess I _kind of _know how that works…" she then quirked her mouth a few times as she thought hard about this, "D- do I actually do anything though? Don't I just let him-"

She then began to chuckle and shook her head negatively, "I'm sure he knows…" she said simply setting aside the issue. She then sat down on the end of her bed and held her cheek with a radiant look, "Then we'll get married and have a child-the Flower name will then live on…"

She then widened her eyes and closed an eye, "Wait, or do I lose my name?" She then puckered her lips and lowered her eyebrows, "Chiya Bendek?" she then hummed and shrugged, "Earl Flower…"

She stood up and shrugged again, "Name doesn't matter, it's the blood that counts-the Flower name lives on even if the name dies."

Chiya then leapt back up and ran for the door-but once again tripped. She hit her chin much more roughly this time, "Damn it all!" she cussed.

Chiya mere minutes later came out of the bathroom in her stock hat and jackboots, she had also brushed her teeth and applied perfume. She crossed her arms with a determined look and tapped her foot constantly in the middle of the hallway-waiting anxiously for Earl to return. Chiya bounced up and down constantly in excitement, but momentarily came to the realization that Earl may not return for hours.

"Oh…" she muttered aloud.

She then scratched her head and looked around the hallway with an impatient look. _I guess this is the last time I'll be a free woman, I should make the best of it!_ she thought excitedly.

Chiya moments later found herself going through Earl's drawers, she had her lips puckered as she pulled out several things with Korean text.

"O-ooh!"

She found a dagger and unsheathed it, revealing a shiny and unused blade. She then ran the blade across her finger, testing how sharp it was.

"Why would a tank commander need a dagger?" she pondered aloud.

Chiya then set the dagger down and pulled out a photo, she gasped as she looked at the fairly large image. She was looking at a photo of Earl and his tank buddies in a bar with a bunch of women-they all appeared to be laughing at the time. Earl had his arm wrapped around a woman as he gave the camera a thumbs up-there was a glass of beer in his other hand.

"So he's always been a player then…" she muttered.

"Eh, we were off duty that night…" answered Earl.

She then whipped her head around surprised and grunted at him, he had a smirk on his face as he dropped several bags. Her eyes immediately began to water as she smiled at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, then began to chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sorry-the fast food place wasn't open today, so I didn't bring chicken home."

Chiya puckered her lips and brushed her hair, "Oh, that's quite alright…"

Earl nodded at her and pulled a small box out of a bag, Chiya widened her eyes excitedly-but realized that it was too large. He then walked up to her and placed the box in her hand, "Seppuku and me agreed that you may want this, y'know, incase those horrid memories make you feel bad again…"

Chiya rolled her eyes and began to chuckle, "Yes, thank you-you're so nice to me Earl…"

He then smiled and continued to stare at her, she blinked at him a few times with a gleeful smile. He then grabbed two bags and went towards the door again, "Wanna' help on the machines? They're pretty beat up!" he said chuckling.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and nodded, "Yes, that sounds fine-just don't put me anywhere too dirty, I don't want to get my hands dirty…"

He then looked down at her hands and raised both of his eyebrows, he then took a few moments to observe her face as well-she smiled and made sure to show her bright teeth. Earl grunted and nodded his head constantly.

"Okay, you re-eally broke ground with your appearance this time!" he complimented.

Chiya giggled and brushed her hair, "Oh, you know-I just felt like doing a little touch up today…"

Earl opened his door and smirked at her, "Well you look amazing."

He then held the door open for her, she momentarily lowered her eyebrows somewhat in frustration; _This is already taking longer than I thought…_

Chiya then proceeded through the door and waited for him out in the hallway, Earl closed the door and continued down the hallway with her. Chiya puckered her lips and glanced up at him with one eye-he was walking with a smile on his face, leading her to believe that he had a plan when to propose. She continued to glance up at him constantly, but was trying to remain silent-but she was failing to hide her look of excitement. Earl momentarily looked down and caught her bright blue eyes staring at him with a big smile.

"Well, what are you so happy about?"

She then grunted and looked away from him, "Nothing…"

Earl smirked at her and shook negatively, "I recognize that face, it's the one you had on Christmas when you were waiting for your gift."

Chiya widened her eyes, but found herself nodding, "Oh, really? Didn't notice…"

"I still feel terrible about that day…"

"You made up for it the day you saved me from Black Shadow," she then looked down at her legs, "I shouldn't even have knees right now, a little longer and they would have cut em' off!"

Earl shrugged at her, "That wasn't a gift, that was an obligation."

The two then entered the garage together-but Chiya was somewhat angered to see Seppuku already in the garage. Earl and Seppuku immediately exchanged looks at each other, Chiya sighed and closed her eyes. _Great, there's no way he'll propose to me with him around…_ Chiya could only imagine what Seppuku would do if he witnessed this, she was almost certain that he would crash the moment.

"Back already, Bendek?"

"No chicken, sorry."

Seppuku growled at him, "Yeah right, I bet you and Chiya just ate it all."

Chiya gave him an offended look, but Earl merely chuckled the remark off, "I wish…"

Seppuku then looked at Chiya in confusion, "-the Hell..?" he muttered after noticing her improved looks.

Chiya grunted and rubbed the back of her head, "Uh, I just thought that- well, yeah…"

"She should get like that before the races-she'd have all the guys dropping their jaws at her."

Chiya smiled at him and shook negatively, "Yeah, well, you know…"

"Chiya made look cute, but any guy would drop her after getting to know her," Seppuku barked at Earl.

Chiya growled at Seppuku, "Just because you don't like me, doesn't mean-"

"Actually, no one likes _you_ Seppuku-you're honestly the biggest piece of crap I've ever met." Chiya smirked at Earl-but Seppuku took offense to this, Earl walked up to the _Purring Kitten _and rubbed his hand across the dents, "Truth be told, I'd sooner have Jody Summer as our boss-but we don't pick and choose, do we?"

Seppuku then grabbed Earl's head and roughly slammed it against the _Purring Kitten_ in rage. Chiya gasped and immediately ran up to Seppuku, "Stop it! Let go of Earl!" she pleaded.

Seppuku had Earl up in the air by his throat and looked at Chiya calmly, "As you wish," he then let go of Earl, dropping him straight onto the floor.

Chiya gasped and held her mouth with both hands, Earl momentarily stood back up with an angered look, "Jesus Christ man, I wasn't even being serious!" Seppuku began to chuckle at him, "Sometimes I do enjoy working with you, like when we beat Jody in bowling."

Seppuku chuckled and nodded, "That was a great game…"

Earl then rubbed his forehead and smirked, "That it was…"

Chiya exhaled in relief and nodded, "Don't do that Seppuku, Earl was just defending me is all…"

Seppuku didn't respond, Earl momentarily climbed up near the _Purring Kitten_'s cockpit and pushed on the window-the entire cockpit window was easily being shook by Earl.

"Jesus, this thing was ready to come off!"

Chiya rubbed her forehead, "How do we fix it?"

Earl looked back down at his bags and pointed at one, "I had a feeling that this thing was damaged yesterday, so you'll be happy to know that I went and bought a new ring."

Chiya shook her head and grunted with widened eyes, "Wh- what?"

Earl pointed at the bag again, "Bring me the ring please?"

Chiya gasped and immediately ran up to the bag, she collapsed onto her knees and looked inside of the bag-but what she found next was utterly disappointing to her. She pulled out a fairly heavy metal looking gear-a ring.

She lowered her eyebrows sadly and stood back up with the metal part, "Th- this is the ring?"

Earl nodded, "After the crash you got in yesterday, it became abundantly clear to me that the cockpit window became damaged-since it was open as you crashed."

Chiya shook her head negatively in disbelief, Earl was holding his hand out towards her. Chiya then shut her eyes and groaned, "The ring was a damn F-Zero part!?"

Earl grunted and widened his eyes, "Well, yeah, wha-"

"Oh, Bloody He-ell!" she shouted as she angrily tossed the part on the ground.

Seppuku then began to laugh loudly while pointing at her, "Oh my God, Flower you idiot-you thought he meant-"

"Shut the Hell up Seppuku," she snapped back at him as she began walking away from the two.

Earl was constantly glancing at both Chiya and Seppuku, Chiya was clearly crushed-Seppuku was finding this hilarious. Earl ultimately had a confused look on his face, "Uh, what's going on?"

Seppuku leaned over Earl's workbench laughing and looked at Chiya-who was about to exit thought he door, "Ms. Dumbass thought you meant the other kind of ring-the jewelry!"

Earl then grabbed his mouth and widened his eyes, "O-oh…"

Chiya tore her hat off her head and began to ruffle her hair around, then began to scratch the paint off of her fingers, "I'm watching a movie!" she yelled angrily.

Earl rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, not knowing what he could do about this predicament. Seppuku continued to laugh even louder at Chiya's reaction. Earl then frowned as Chiya slammed the door furiously behind her.

"You couldn't have been more clear to her with what I was doing?"

Earl cringed at the loud sound of Chiya's door slamming-considering he and Seppuku were in the garage meant that she was abnormally loud. Earl sighed and shook his head negatively, "She'll be fine, just a miscommunication-but I'll probably still have to check up on her la-"

Earl then cringed again as he heard a loud thumping noise followed by a shout.

"Bloody He-ell!" Chiya screamed-having once again tripped on the bullets.

To be continued…


	37. Lap 36

==Lap 36=

A few hours went by, Chiya had typically spent the day isolated in her room again-not because she was angry at Earl, rather because she was so embarrassed that she openly began to express her anger on the matter of marriage in front of him. Earl had come to her room a few times asking to speak with her, but each time she simply told him to come back another time in a calm tone. Unlike the last time she had failed to seal the deal with Earl, she wasn't ignoring him, but she kept her lights off like last time. Chiya was sitting on her bed wrapped in her blanket, she was watching TV with a somewhat disappointed look on her face.

Chiya sighed and rubbed her head negatively, "I wonder if a girl's ever proposed to a guy before…" she pondered aloud. Chiya sighed and stood up, but kept her blanket wrapped around her-she found that her blanket was a common comfort place when her feelings got hurt, "Well, let's get this mess out of the way…" she said as she looked at the door.

Chiya had cleaned up about a quarter of the bullets that were on the ground, she simply pushed most of the bullets out of the way so that she could walk without tripping. She approached her door and breathed in as she grabbed the knob, momentarily opening the door slowly. She held her blanket with one hand as she was immediately faced with Earl's door wide opened. She raised an eyebrow as she could slightly see a dim light flashing inside of his room-clearly coming from his TV. She approached his door and lowered her eyebrows as she could hear something-constant light tapping. _What's he doing?_ she wondered as she took a slow step inside of his room. She peered around his door and looked at his bed, she then gasped at the sight of Earl doing something very unusual-he was playing a video game.

Chiya made a humorous grunt as she tapped her foot down constantly at him, "Um, am I seeing this correctly?"

Earl then turned his head towards her after pausing the game, he had a surprised look on his face but momentarily smiled at her, "Oh, hey, didn't think I'd see you at all today."

Chiya brushed off his comment and tilted her head with a smirk, "Am I seeing Earl Bendek, a fully grown man, playing a video game?" Earl lowered his eyebrows and nodded, "What are you ten?"

Earl chuckled at her and scooted over on his bed, momentarily patting his hand down on the empty space, "Have a seat, you can play too."

Chiya grunted at him and looked back at the door, "Wha- me? Play a video game?" Earl shrugged at her, she then lowered her eyebrows and dipped her head, "U-uh, yeah, okay!" she said gleefully.

She then leaped onto the bed with him with little hesitation, she dropped her blanket in the middle of the floor as she leaped. She immediately held her knees and began to bounce around on his bed as she looked at the TV and Earl back and forth.

"What are we playing?"

Earl then unpaused the game and continued to play, Chiya immediately widened her eyes and gasped, "Oh my God! Is that-"

"F-Zero: XP," he answered.

Chiya continued to shake her head in disbelief, "An F-Zero video game?" she then began to chuckle, "That's just silly…"

"Not really, F-Zero is so popular-imagine the sales this game got when it was released!"

Chiya placed her finger on her lips, "I dunno' what can you do in it?"

"Pick from Thirty-Five racers, enter any of the five grand prix's, story mode, time attack, even make your own machine-there's even an emblem editor."

"Emblem editor?"

Earl nodded as he then side attacked a racer in the game, "Yeah, if you're good with art, you can make emblems and put them on either custom or original machines."

Chiya then let out a grunt of awe and looked back at the screen, she then narrowed her eyes and pointed at the machine he was driving, "Hey what the Hell! Why are you playing as Blood Falcon!?"

Earl shrugged, "Eh, it's just a game."

"But he's trying to kill us!"

"Just a game Chiya…"

She shook her head negatively at Earl, he then drove up to the _Blue Falcon_ and side attacked it, sending it flying and momentarily leaving it in an explosive fireball, "Bo-oom! Captain Falcon's-"

"What the Hell!"

Earl then began to chuckle as he looked back at her, "Calm down Chiya, I usually play as Captain Falcon."

She then puckered her lips, "Why not Chiya Flower? She's a pretty cool racer…" Earl simply chuckled at her, she then closed her eyes and nodded, "Well, why not Seppuku?"

Earl swished his hand at her, "Well, maybe if they would make a new damn F-Zero game already, we could see some of these new features-wouldn't it be sweet if Chiya Flower was a playable character in any new F-Zero game?" Earl then slowly began to lower his eyebrows, "Hint hint…"

Earl then got first place, Chiya began to clap for him, "Wow! So now what?"

Earl shrugged, "That's about it." He then selected the track _Mist Flow_ and handed her the controller, "Here, you can tell me if they designed your planet's track correctly."

Chiya widened her eyes and began to examine the controller, she was looking around every inch of it for buttons, "Th- there's so many buttons!"

"Well, you really just need to hold the green one to accelerate, and occasionally the left and right bumpers."

Chiya puckered her lips with a determined look and nodded, now holding the controller firmly-she held the controller out in front of her like a steering wheel, "I am ready to drive!"

Earl then grabbed her hands and lowered them down to her lap, "Easy…"

"But, I can't see the buttons then, and how am I suppose to turn the wheel if it's on my lap?"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled, "You've never played a video game, have you?"

She shook her head negatively, "Banned on Mysteria, my teachers taught me that video games were made by the _Federation warmongers_ in order to brainwash children."

Earl shook his head negatively, "Ye-eah, no."

Chiya was holding the controller oddly and was constantly looking down, she found herself on the machine selection screen, "How do I create Chiya Flower?"

"No character creation."

"Bollocks!"

She then moved up to the _Blue Falcon _slowly, "I'll pick Captain Falcon, because then I will win!"

Earl nodded at her, "Press the green button the-"

Just then Seppuku charged into the room with a look of shock, "Flower!"

She immediately dropped the controlled and grabbed Earl with a look of fright, "Ye- yes sir?"

Seppuku growled at the sight of Chiya and Earl together in bed, "Oh for the love of- next time I should just get two workers of the same gender…" Chiya and Earl both glanced at each other for a moment-leaving both with slight flattered looks, "Chiya, I want you in my office, now!"

She gasped and got off of the bed immediately, "What'd I do this time?"

Seppuku turned his head towards her as he approached the door, "Phone call for you…"

Chiya and Earl both gasped at this, she began to approach the door with a look of surprise, "From who?"

Seppuku stood perfectly still and gave her an intense stare, he then tilted his fedora to her, "The Emperor…"

Chiya mere moments later found herself behind Seppuku's desk with a look of complete shock. Seppuku was standing in front of her with his arms crossed, Earl was standing next to Seppuku with a look of confusion.

"You will speak with manners, only refer to the Emperor as the Emperor, and none of that stupid English slang-you're not ruining this Chiya!" Seppuku lectured.

Chiya swallowed nervously and nodded, momentarily placing her hand on his phone-which was on hold. Earl quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "This is a bunch of bull, why would the Emperor want with Chiya? He won't even take Jody's calls…"

Seppuku grabbed Earl's mouth and pointed at Chiya, "Speak."

She then lifted the phone up to her ear and began to tremble, "Uh, he- hello, Chiya Flower speaking…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows as he stared at Chiya, she bit her lip as she constantly looked at the two, "Uh, I dunno'…"

Seppuku slightly growled at her, she then dipped her head down, "I uh, I don't know…"

Seppuku then reached over and pressed a button on the phone-switching it over to speaker.

"Ms. Flower, allow me to introduce myself more properly, I am Komoto Takashi-Emperor Yamato's secretary," said a female voice.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and quirked her mouth, "Uh, okay…"

"Manners…" Seppuku silently growled at her.

Chiya widened her eyes at Seppuku and swallowed, "Yes, hello, how can I help?"

"Emperor Yamato was secretly present at the recent race, and he was fairly impressed with you."

Chiya let out a loud gasp and looked at Earl with an excited smile, Earl returned her a thumbs up, "Really? Be- because I was having technical issues with my machine that entire race."

"We noticed, you appeared to be struggling around the final lap-the Emperor was especially fascinated with your determination to not give up after crashing."

Chiya grunted and licked her lips, "I'm very honored."

"Emperor Yamato would like to know if you are available to meet him in person at the Imperial Palace, in one hour."

All three gasped loudly at the request, Earl and Seppuku both flailed their hands at her constantly while nodding, Chiya then widened her eyes and nodded constantly.

"Uh, yes! That would be great! Can I bring my two friends?"

"The Emperor would like to meet any accomplices you have that work as your pit crew-so only your workers."

"Great!" she responded gleefully.

Earl rubbed his forehead and let out an amazed exhale, Seppuku had a smirk on his face as he looked at Chiya. "We will expect your arrival Ms. Flower in one hour, please do not keep the Emperor waiting." Chiya closed her eyes and nodded, "Farewell, Ms. Flower."

The secretary then closed the call, leaving Chiya with a stunned look. She looked at Seppuku back and forth and momentarily put the phone down.

"Um, so we're going to meet the Emperor then?"

Earl let out a whistle and beamed at her, "Congratulations, not many people get to do this-not like you could centuries ago."

Chiya returned an excited look, "I wonder if he's going to give us anything…"

Earl smirked at Seppuku, "I bet you're happy, Jody tries getting a meeting with the Emperor like every week-he obviously just ignores her requests." Seppuku then began to chuckle, "See what bringing a sweet girl like Chiya into your organization does?"

Chiya smiled at the two, but then found Seppuku reaching for his phone. "I know who I'm calling!"

Chiya stood up and walked over by Earl, the two stared at Seppuku as he had a prideful smile on his face, he held the phone up and tapped his fingers on his desk constantly. Chiya and Earl glanced at each other, wondering who he could be calling about this-Earl then sighed and face palmed as he just figured it out.

"Galactic Federation HQ, Jody Summer spea-"

"Sup Summer?"

Jody let out a long sigh, "What do you want this time, Lieutenant?"

Chiya somewhat giggled as she watched Seppuku playfully call Jody. Earl momentarily smirked as well.

"O-oh, not much, just thought I'd give you a call, see what you're up to…"

Jody hesitated to respond, a tapping sound could then be heard in the background-the sound of her fingers tapping, "Well, I'm trying to get some paperwork done, we were going to go bowling soon, and I'm heading out to Sand Ocean tomorrow on a good will mission."

Seppuku nodded his head and began to jiggle, "Bowling eh? That sounds fun, I had a fun time with you that night, even if we did beat you-I'm very sorry about that by the way…"

Chiya grunted and rubbed her forehead, she then moved towards Earl's face, "I- is he joking, or is he flirting with her?"

Earl smirked, "I've seen this all before…"

"Well thank you Lieutenant, an apology from you means al-"

"Not a bad job in the last race either, you very well could win another Grand Prix."

Jody was still hesitating between responses, clearly still suspicious of his behavior, "Uh, thanks," she then cleared her throat, "So-o, what has the Lieutenant been up to then?"

Seppuku began to chuckle, "O-oh, you know, just got an invitation to the Imperial Palace, thought I'd rub it in before I go…"

"Wha- what?"

Chiya began to silently laugh, Earl puckered his lips as he nodded at Seppuku.

"Yeah, Flower was just invited to meet the Emperor, and she can bring guests, just thought I'd rub it in since the Empe-"

"Why the Hell did he invite that sick minded girl, but not me!?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes and growled, Seppuku then began to chuckle, "Trust me, I know a few sick things about Chiya as well…" he then waved his index finger up in the air at Chiya.

Chiya dipped her head down and glanced away from Earl, "Come on ma-an…"

Earl rubbed his chin at Chiya, "Someone will have to explain to me what that means la-"

"But anyways, we really must be going, so enjoy your time at the office Summer!" he gloated.

"Seppuku, stay, there," she ordered, immediately hanging up.

Seppuku began to chuckle as he dropped the phone, "Excellent, thank you Chiya, that was very enjoyable."

She smiled at him and nodded, "Shall we go then?"

Seppuku shook negatively, "You two get the door, I'm sure Summer's rushing over here as we speak."

Chiya puckered her lips playfully and lowered her eyelids, "You should just ask Jody out on a date, you two obviously are in love."

Earl gasped and widened his eyes at Chiya, the two were then completely stunned as Seppuku fired his rifle towards Chiya. She quickly turned around and found that he shot between Chiya and Earl-though he wasn't trying to actually hit anyone.

"What are you crazy!?" Chiya panicked.

"Anyone who thinks there's something going on between us is crazier than me."

A few minutes went by, both Chiya and Earl remained in the lobby waiting to see if Jody would show up. Seppuku had decided to give her five more minutes.

"Come on, we could get stuck in traffic, we should just get going," Chiya proposed impatiently.

"No, I think we can butter something out of Jody if we just wait."

Earl raised an eyebrow at him, "What are we taking from her this time?"

Chiya immediately puckered her lips and put her hands together, "How about she pays for a movie-for us three."

Earl nodded in agreement and glanced up at Seppuku, "I don't watch movies in the theatres, you two could just go alone," Chiya widened her eyes and smiled at Seppuku's proposal, he then quirked his mouth, "On second thought, why would I do something that doesn't benefit me?"

Chiya then frowned and nodded, "Geez…"

"She could pay for machine repa-"

At that moment Jody had run right into the lobby, she was panting as she looked up at Seppuku. Chiya and Earl both stared at the panting Jody in shock, she had clearly been running.

"Sup?" asked Seppuku.

Jody pointed her finger up at Seppuku, "I'm going with you."

Chiya sighed and dipped her head down, Seppuku then smirked at her, "Why would I take you with us?"

Jody grunted and then got a very fake smile, "Be- because, we're friends…"

Seppuku twitched his eyebrow at her for a few moments, then broke out into laughter. Chiya smiled and shook her head negatively, _Did she actually think that was gonna' work?_ Jody then sighed and dipped her head down.

"I suppose you want compensation then?"

Seppuku nodded, "But money is no fun, I want something other than money."

"Oh for God sakes, I just want to ask the Emperor a few damn questions!"

Seppuku chuckled at her, "I don't like your attitude, how about you tone it down."

Jody grunted and then growled, "What is it you want?"

Seppuku held his hand out towards her, "I already had something in mind…" Chiya and Earl both raised their eyebrows at Seppuku, "Do remember, I still have access to the Federation database-I know about your secret operation on Magica you're trying to pull off…"

Chiya immediately gasped at the mentioning of Magica, this was the rival planet of Mysteria. Jody grinded her teeth and shook negatively, "I- I honestly have no idea what you-"

"Let's face it, the queen of Mysteria is too ill right now, she'll be dead in a week maximum…" Chiya let out a loud gasp and shook negatively, "Soon the heir to the throne will take over…"

"Ou- our glorious leader is dying?" asked a surprised Chiya.

Seppuku slowly nodded at her, he then pointed at Chiya, "I think you see where I'm going with this Summer…"

Earl had a concerned look as he looked at the three constantly, "What are you guys talking about?"

Jody quirked her mouth, "You're right, Chiya does look a bit like the heir…"

Chiya grunted and rubbed her forehead, "Come on then, what are you talking about?"

Jody disregarded Chiya and narrowed her eyes at Seppuku, "Interesting proposal, but why do you care about this operation?"

Seppuku and Chiya then continued to stare at each other, Seppuku licked his lips and momentarily looked at Chiya and Earl, "Nothing much, but it will benefit me."

Chiya stomped her foot down, "Oh come on already, what do I have to do w-"

"Take me before the Emperor, and we can continue this discussion in privacy," she narrowed her eyes at Chiya, "This matter really should be kept private from your associates…"

Seppuku smirked and held his hand out towards her, "Deal."

The two then shook hands, but both Earl and Chiya were left wondering what this deal was about, clearly Chiya was involved in some way. Seppuku then closed the lobby door and nodded.

"Very well Summer, you can hitch a ride with us-both our F-Zero machines are under maintenance so we'll be taking Bendek's car."

Jody sighed, "Fine…"

Not much later, the four went driving down the streets of the Upper City-Seppuku was driving Earl's car, Jody was sitting next to him, leaving Chiya and Earl to sit in the back. Chiya and Earl both showed signs of discomfort having Jody ride along with them, Chiya was alarmed at the secret deal the two had made, as she knew that she would be involved in some way. Earl glanced down at Chiya's hand for a few moment and frowned, her fingernails were now practically void of paint-but he could easily tell that she had scraped it off. There were small bits of purple paint still around the edges of her nails, he then grunted and looked at her face-her hair was no longer combed as beautifully as before; he was completely lost as to why a girl would intentionally remove their beauty. Chiya then turned her head towards Earl with a surprised look, Earl then quirked his mouth and glanced away from her. Chiya simply dipped her head down and revealed a faint smile.

"Maybe the Emperor is going to arrest you guys, considering each and every one of you are criminals," Jody proposed.

Chiya narrowed her eyes angrily, "I'm no crim-"

"I can kick you out of the car whenever I wish Summer, I suggest you don't provoke me or my associates," threatened Seppuku.

Earl made a grunt of approval and nodded, Jody moved her eyes towards Earl in response and raised an eyebrow, "I heard about your historic speech to the Manchurians," she then glanced at Chiya for a moment, "Well, I heard more about her, but regardless…"

Earl smirked and nodded, "That's right, and now I can finally rest easy knowing that not every person in Korea hates me."

Jody sighed and shrugged, "Yeah, we live in a time where you can get away with mass murder with a simple apology," she then smirked and rolled her eyes, "Maybe Black Shadow will come and apologize, I'm sure we'd let him off the hook if it was good enough," she said sarcastically.

Earl stuck his tongue out slightly, "It wasn't my apology that touched the people, it was that someone stood up for me-the courage it took to do that was inspiring to everyone, it proved to them that I'm not some heartless monster, I continued to stay strong and make friends." He then sighed and put his hand on Chiya's shoulder, "Well, a friend…"

Chiya smiled at him and nodded, Seppuku then held his finger up in the air, "We're friends too Bendek, you just annoy the crap out of me sometimes," he then looked at Chiya and smirked, "But not as much as Flower, she's naturally annoying and boneheaded…"

"Hey!" Chiya spat out taking offense to this.

Seppuku glanced over at Jody for a moment, "Is the Imperial Palace considered a part of the Upper City, or an entire different section?"

Jody quirked her mouth and looked away angrily, "What do you think?"

"I think you're a bat."

A moment of silence then followed, Earl momentarily took his hand off of Chiya's shoulder. Chiya continued to look both at Earl and the night sky, she placed her hand on her cheek and looked at the Federation HQ that towered over the metropolis. She then lowered her eyebrows and tapped her cheeks a few times.

"Why do you two hate each other?" she asked calmly.

Seppuku and Jody both jolted their heads up at the question, Earl got a puzzled look on his face and raised an eyebrow-he knew Seppuku's side of the story, but not Jody's.

"Because she sandbagged me at every corner during my job as an officer."

"Because he was and still is a ruthless killer who gets some high off of watching people die."

Chiya glared at the two and shrugged, "Work? That's it? Because of work?"

The two didn't respond, Chiya continued to shake her head negatively at both Jody and Seppuku, "Surely you guys knew each other outside of work too, what went wrong?"

Seppuku glanced over at Jody for a moment and nodded, "Stewart was my favorite friend in the Federation-but admittedly, there was a time that I didn't really _hate_ Summer."

Jody smirked at him and chuckled slightly, "He and me were good bowling partners."

Chiya slightly smiled and nodded, "Were you guys, friends?"

Seppuku and Jody both looked at each other with fierce looks, Seppuku then shrugged and looked away, "I guess I considered her a _buddy_ at times."

"Well, what went wrong?" asked Earl.

Jody looked out the window and sighed, "I didn't want to fire him, he was our best weapon at times-if you needed something done with brute force, the Lieutenant was always our man…" Seppuku grinned and nodded, Jody then placed her hand on her cheek and sighed, "But he never seemed to regard the fact that many of these crime scenes were broadcasted, or that children could be present at the scene…"

Seppuku then shook his head negatively at her, "Damn parents fault, keep the kiddies away!"

"Not only was he a brutal person, he also felt that it was necessary to grant himself with gifts found at the scene," she then poked Seppuku's rifle he had in the car, "That rifle isn't even legal to own, it was part of an arms deal-the right thing to do would be to scrap it, but he just took the loot for himself."

"I put it to better use."

"-by killing…" added Jody.

He began to chuckle and looked back at Chiya, "Sometimes I use it to scare Flower too."

Jody crossed her arms and exhaled, "Me and Stewart knew about what he was doing, but I seemed to be the only one who supported firing him-not because I wanted to, but because it was the right thing to-"

"You idiot, we wouldn't have even had a gang war in Mute City if you just kept me around a bit longer-I would've had both Chain and Blaskovitz dead before they even established a base of operations…"

"_Dead_ is the keyword! Why kill Seppuku? How was this helping us?"

Seppuku shook his head negatively, "Well, since we didn't kill Blaskovitz earlier, he's now a zombie."

"We would have eventually fabricated a warrant for his execution-and we did, and your little killer back here did the dirty work."

Chiya growled and slammed her fists down angrily, "I'm not a killer! I haven't killed anyone for like a year!"

Jody slowly turned her head towards Chiya, "Six years ago, is when you became a killer…"

Chiya immediately gasped and shook her head at her constantly, "Okay, okay, I'll be quiet!"

Earl lowered his eyebrows and continued to stare at her, Chiya glanced at him for a moment and shook her head negatively. She then grabbed his arm and threw her face into his shoulder, "I- I'm not a killer…" she muttered softly.

The four eventually made it through the gates of the Imperial Palace, both Chiya and Earl had looks of shock as they looked at the large structure. There were two armed Japanese militiamen escorting them to the door. Chiya rubbed her head as she gazed up at the many floors of the building.

"This is pretty incredible, but I wonder why it's not as big as the Federation HQ…" Chiya pondered aloud.

"The Emperor doesn't require the largest building in the city-that's how an American thinks," said Jody.

Earl raised an eyebrow at her and tilted his head, "Are you from America?"

Jody swished her hand at him, "I'm not answering that."

Seppuku grabbed Chiya and forced her to the front of the group, she immediately looked at him with a shocked look, "Wha-"

"You're the one he wants to see, certainly not me or Summer."

Chiya nodded and continued up a small fleet of stairs, the group stayed closely behind her as she nervously looked at the door. She stood in front of the door and hesitantly moved her hand towards it-but it opened before she even touched it. She gasped and looked up, she was immediately confronted with a young black haired woman who was bowing to her.

"Ms. Flower, Emperor Yamato is ecstatic that you accepted his invitation to the palace."

Chiya swallowed and nodded quickly, "You're the one I was speaking with on the phone?" She quickly nodded her head, Chiya then smiled and shook her hand, "You're very pretty, I wish-"

"Are, these all your guests?" she asked with one eye closed.

Chiya narrowed her eyes and nodded, "Between you and me, I would've only brought one of the three if it were my choice…" she whispered to her.

Seppuku began to chuckle and punched Earl's arm, "Damn Bendek, she would've left you and Summer behind if she could. Earl simply rolled his eyes at him.

"Please, come in, and remove your footwear as you enter."

Chiya nodded and immediately slipped out of her jackboots, Jody and Earl did the same as they walked in-but Seppuku kept his on. Jody sighed and face palmed as she walked alongside Seppuku.

"Can't even take your boots off?"

Seppuku got a smug look on his face and shook negatively, "I don't take em' off in my own base, certainly not taking them off here."

Earl walked up to Chiya quickly and tapped her shoulder, she moved her eyes towards him without turning her head.

"Maybe you should confront the Emperor alone, then call us in when you're done," he proposed silently.

Chiya nodded, "Yes, Seppuku and Jody will stay outside while we talk to him."

Earl grunted and glanced back at the two, then back at her, "We?"

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "Because you're not trouble, those two are practically the same-only Jody's a woman. My point being, those two will just make things bad."

The group then approached a traditional sliding door, the secretary moved over and opened it for Chiya. Chiya grabbed Earl's hand and brought him towards the door, she then stopped and looked at the secretary.

"I'll tell these two when they can come in."

Seppuku and Jody both gasped in shock, the secretary bowed to her and smiled, "As you wish."

"What the Hell, Flower!" Seppuku complained.

Chiya smirked at him and continued through the door with Earl, closing the slide door behind her. Jody then sighed and dipped her head down. Seppuku simply quirked his mouth and nodded.

"See, my life isn't _that_ easy-I have to put up with her…"

Chiya immediately let go of Earl's hand and continued with him up the room, it was a very casual looking part of the building-almost like an ordinary household. Chiya puckered her lips and looked at Earl, "What does the Emperor look like anyways?"

Earl shrugged, "Never saw a picture of him, I imagine he wears some big robe, crown, carries a cane, gold, maybe s-"

The two then gasped as a fairly young man in a white uniform came walking towards them from across the room. The man had black combed hair and a very clean appearance, he came forward with his arms behind his back. Earl widened his eyes at the man, he then looked over at Chiya-who had a love struck look on her face. Chiya made a few grunting noises at the young man-who could only be a bit older than her.

"Hello, Ms. Flower, Mr. Bendek."

Earl grunted and widened his eyes, wondering how the man knew his name. Chiya bowed to him and shook his hand immediately, "Uh, hi! Is your father around?"

The man had a slight smile on his face as he bowed to her, "My father had passed years ago, I was heir to the throne."

Chiya gasped and widened her eyes at him, "Wait, wha- _you're_ the Emperor of Japan!?"

The man nodded affirmatively, "Yes, I am Emperor Yamato."

Earl rubbed his forehead and shook in disbelief, "I pictured you being much older…"

The Emperor turned his head towards Earl and grinned, "I'm thirty-seven."

Chiya and Earl both gasped, Chiya began to chuckle, "Uh, really? Because you look younger than Earl!"

Earl then lowered his eyebrows and grunted, "I- I'm only five years younger than you Chiya…"

"I apologize for having little availability for this meeting, so I will keep things brief so we may all retire for rest." The Emperor then put his legs together firmly and looked at Chiya with a determined smile, "You are going to be a good racer, and a model for many-Japan needs more people like you."

Earl raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously, Chiya gave the Emperor a puzzled look, "I think I'm a kindhearted person, but how could that help this country?"

"A simple request really, and I am hopeful that you will accept my request…" Chiya patiently waited to hear the request, the Emperor had a simple and determined look on his face, "I would be honored if you represented Japan as an F-Zero racer."

Earl lowered his eyebrows and quirked his mouth at the request, Chiya scratched her head in confusion, "Represent Japan? How?"

"Simply declare your loyalty to the Land of the Rising Sun, perhaps attach some Japanese emblems to your machine-allow everyone to know that you race for Japan."

Chiya hummed and placed her finger on her lip, Earl then pointed at the Emperor with a somewhat frustrated look, "Now hold on a second, you already have Samurai Goroh doing that."

The Emperor dipped his head down and sighed, "Goroh is not an honorable man, he represents Japan-but we do not condone this," he then looked back at Chiya, "Perhaps if a kinder soul such as yourself were to represent Japan, we could finally be looked at as a nation of kindhearted heroes-not pirates."

"I don't kno-ow…"

Earl then smirked at the Emperor, "That's all good, but I was kind of hoping that she may represent Korea."

The Emperor immediately lowered his eyebrows in disapproval, Chiya grunted as she looked at Earl, "Well, yes, I do love Korea too…"

"Korea is not your home, many of the people there dislike both of you currently-Japan is your true home Chiya."

"I guess so, but my real home-"

"There's probably more Chiya fans in Korea than Japan, mind you, Chiya did move a lot of hearts when she gave her speech."

Chiya closed her eyes in discomfort and pointed up, "If I may just spe-"

"Japan is a much more advanced nation as well, Korea is only independent because of us."

Earl then narrowed his eyes at her, "What was that?" he asked in a cold tone.

Chiya grunted and widened her eyes at the two, the Emperor then smirked at Earl calmly, "Korea only remained independent because we did, if it were not for Japan, the United Powers would have annexed Korea years ago." He then brushed his hair and stared at Earl more intensely, "And regardless, Korea may have been annexed if it weren't for your destructive decision during the war."

Chiya finally sighed and dipped her head down, realizing that she had no say in the matter.

Earl shook his fist at the Emperor and growled, "She'll pick Korea because she has more Korean culture than Japanese!"

"I for one believe she will pick Japan merely out of logic, Korea isn't worth representing."

Earl growled more loudly and glared at him, "No one regards Japan as anything great either, not when you have sports, theme parks, and a superior military in the United Powers."

"Korea wouldn't be a nation if it weren't for Japan, the peninsula would have likely been a part of China if it weren't for us in the twentieth century."

Earl grinded his teeth, "How about you calm down for a minute Mr. Tojo."

The Emperor immediately took offense to this and narrowed his eyes at Earl and vice-versa. Chiya was simply standing in between the two with an angered look as the two had a stare down.

"Just pick Korea so we can leave Chiya…"

"Japan is the superior choice Ms. Flower."

Chiya growled and began to tremble in anger, "Can I speak now?"

Both Earl and the Emperor gasped, she then lifted her head up and looked at Earl, "I'm not representing Korea, I have no heritage from the land and little knowledge about it."

The Emperor smirked at Earl with a look of pride, Earl snapped his fingers and sighed, "Damn."

Chiya then looked at the Emperor, "I'm not representing Japan either, I _do_ have heritage from this nation-but ultimately this was just where I ended up as a result of a dark past…"

The Emperor grunted and began to tap his foot, "I urge you to reconsider!"

"Oh God, you're not gonna' represent the United Powers, are you?" asked Earl.

Chiya shook negatively, she then turned towards the two, giving them a look of pride, "I am an independent woman and will make my own decisions." Earl dipped his head down and closed his eyes, feeling bad that he was trying to control her decision. Chiya momentarily nodded at the two, "I represent my planet-Mysteria."

Both Earl and the Emperor gasped, the Emperor momentarily narrowed his eyes in disgust at Chiya, "Mysteria? Why not just put a big swastika on your machine while you're at it?"

Chiya gave him an angry look and puckered her lips, "Maybe I will!"

Earl then grabbed her arm and moved up to her ear, "N- no, we're not putting a swastika on your machine…"

Chiya grunted and raised an eyebrow at him, "Wait, what's a swastika?"

"Ms. Flower, why would you represent such a planet? They threaten the galaxy on a regular basis."

Earl nodded in agreement, Chiya licked her lips as she looked at the two, "I love the planet, not the government-therefore I race for the planet, and not the government."

She then brushed her bangs aside and gave the Emperor a solid stare, "I once heard from a role model; you should never hate a nation, just the government, but not the land, people, or soldiers."

Earl momentarily broke his angry look and began to grin, he momentarily ended up nodding in respect for her. The Emperor rubbed his chin and sighed, "I suppose it isn't mandatory that you represent Japan-but I implore that you don't ruin your reputation by representing Mysteria."

"Hey, she made her decision, it's a good decision-I like it."

Chiya smiled at Earl and looked at the Emperor again, who had a disappointed look, "Is this your final stance on the matter Ms. Flower? Will you reconsider?"

Chiya immediately shook negatively, "Mysteria, I am true to my family and planet."

The Emperor sighed and nodded, "Very well, I respect your desire to honor Mysteria, even if I do not agree with you."

Chiya poked Earl's arm, "Go get those two, I don't plan on staying much longer."

Earl nodded and ran over to the slide door, the Emperor then raised an eyebrow at her, "I was preparing for bed, who are these two you speak of, Ms. Flower?"

Seppuku and Jody then entered the room, the Emperor immediately widened his eyes and sighed at the sight of them.

"Ah, two more familiar faces to me…" he said with a look of displeasure.

Jody immediately approached the Emperor and bowed, "Emperor Yamato," she greeted.

The Emperor lowered his eyelids, "Jody Summer-Chief of the Federation…" The Emperor glanced over at Seppuku and widened his eyes in fear, "Uh, Lieutenant Seppuku."

"Yo."

The Emperor rubbed the back of his head nervously, "We've heard _things_ about you…"

Chiya smiled, "Anything good?"

"N- no, not so much…"

"Emperor Yamato, I had sent a request quite some time ago asking-"

"Uh, yes, I've yet to read any of your many messages to me…"

Jody cleared her throat and nodded, "I was hoping you could acknowledge a specific request however, which is why I came in person…" Seppuku then lowered his eyebrows at Jody, "I would like you to consider the curfew for the Lower City-for all ages, it will help limit the amount of criminals on the streets."

Seppuku, Earl, and Chiya all gasped at the request, Jody smirked at Seppuku with a devious look. Seppuku immediately began to growl in response, having completely forgot about her past attempt to do this-which everyone agreed was likely aimed at Seppuku. The Emperor dipped his head down and rubbed his forehead.

"Uh, yes, I did read _that_ request before, but I cannot condone such an unlawful piece of legislation…"

Jody gasped and widened her eyes, Seppuku immediately pointed at her, "Ha!"

"Emperor, it will greatly reduce the crime rate in Mute City, surely you-"

"It restricts freedom to the already suffering citizens of the Lower City, this would be unfair and be an example of authoritarianism if I agreed to this."

Jody dipped her head down and sighed, Chiya smiled at Seppuku and gave him a thumbs up, "Well, I guess everything's gonna' be okay!" Chiya said happily aloud.

The Emperor bowed to Jody with a stern look, "I recommend you not further speak publicly about this matter-people may start to accuse you of being a supporter of limited freedom."

Jody nodded and sighed again, "Yes, I see your point…"

The Emperor stretched and bowed again to the four as he backed up, "I am disheartened that Ms. Flower declined my request, but I must return to my study now-I look forward to watching you three in the Grand Prix."

He then turned around and proceeded through a door, Seppuku immediately wrapped his arm around Jody and smiled at her. She looked him in the eyes angrily, "What?"

"You lost, I won, and I expect you to honor your deal with me."

Jody growled at him, but nodded momentarily, "Be honest with me Seppuku, you want something out of this Magica mission-what is it?"

Seppuku quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "I have my reasoning, my point being, that Chiya would make the perfect resource for this mission, correct?"

Jody looked at Chiya and quirked her mouth, Chiya momentarily smiled nervously at Jody, "She is perfect, perhaps we should try something," she then turned her head towards Seppuku, "But I'm serious, if you're up to something, you tell me! Or I'll have you thrown in the slammer!"

Seppuku began to chuckle, then looked at Earl, "Those two would get me out…"

Earl shook negatively, "Actually, Chiya and me would retire and leave for Vietnam together."

Chiya grunted and began to blush, Seppuku immediately stomped his foot down and spun towards the two, "What!? Vietnam?"

Jody smirked, "Very loyal companions you have Lieutenant…"

Chiya exhaled and smiled, realizing that Earl was still on board with the idea of going to Vietnam with her. This told her that she needed to keep her chin up, realizing that he still wanted to do this with her badly-at any time she could leave with him. Chiya looked at Seppuku and bit her lip, she was being used in Seppuku and Jody's plan like an expendable resource-Chiya had a feeling that by the end of this, she'd be off to Hanoi with Earl in no time.

To be continued…


	38. Lap 37

==Lap 37=

Chiya was holding her pillow tightly as she slept silently, she had somewhat of a perverse smile as she whimpered in her sleep. _The Emperor was kind of cute, I wonder what it would look like if…_ she then bit her lip and moaned slightly, _Earl and the Emperor, gave each other backrubs…_ she then faintly giggled to herself-but wasn't actually awake. _That would be the best thing ever to ha-_

"See? She kicks her foot constantly in her sleep like a cat," said Seppuku.

Chiya then grunted and began to twitch constantly, momentarily rolling onto her back-she was still somewhat asleep though.

"I know, I've seen her do it in her sleep as well," Earl replied.

Huh..?

"I only go in her room occasionally for security measures, I'm sure you go in and grope her while she sleeps."

Chiya then widened her eyes and gasped, Earl was shaking his head at Seppuku negatively, "Where do you get this crazy idea that I'm some kind of-"

"What the Hell!" she yelled in shock.

She then gasped at the sight of Jody Summer standing in front of her as well-everyone was surrounding her. Chiya lowered her eyebrows at Jody and momentarily hid herself slightly under her blanket. Earl crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at Seppuku.

"Okay, she's awake now, can we know about this little mission you guys keep going on about?

Jody and Seppuku both nodded, Chiya then flailed her arms with a panicked look, "What the Hell! Why didn't you guys just wake me up!?"

Seppukus smirked, "Because, you're fun to watch-you always make weird faces and body movements," he then shrugged at her and chuckled, "You must have been having one good dream."

Chiya glanced at Earl for a moment and dipped her head down, "U-uh, yeah, tell me about it…"

Jody stomped her foot down and smirked, momentarily lifting up a bag, "The Lieutenant and I have agreed to pull off this Magica operation today." Chiya gasped and looked at Earl for support, but he appeared just as confused, "Chiya, you will be the key to a successful mission."

Chiya grunted and rubbed her eyebrow, "Me? Why not Seppuku?"

Jody then began to laugh as Seppuku growled, Earl momentarily lowered his eyebrows angrily and held out his hand, "Is this going to endanger Chiya at all?"

"Settle down Bendek," ordered Seppuku.

Chiya crossed her arms and shook negatively at Seppuku, "Okay, can I have breakfast before we do anything?" She then removed her blanket and prepared to get off the bed, but Jody immediately grabbed her foot.

"After we get you ready!"

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped as Seppuku grabbed her other foot, "Wha- ready for what exactly?"

Jody then forcibly removed Chiya's sock, Seppuku did the same, "Woah, come on now!" Chiya complained aloud.

Seppuku then grabbed her and pulled her off the bed, "Trust me, this will probably be the most fun mission you ever did for me."

Seppuku and Jody then placed Chiya on the chair in front of her mirror and lifted her feet up, Chiya gritted her teeth in frustration and growled, "I don't like my feet being touched-let alone looked at!"

Jody momentarily pulled up a pair of pink heels and put one of Chiya's feet in one,, Seppuku did the same with the other foot. Earl gasped and raised an eyebrow at the three, "What the Hell is this?"

Seppuku pointed at Earl, "You, work on her eyebrows-make her pretty."

Chiya stared at Earl with a look of shock, Earl blinked at her a few times and momentarily smirked, "Well, alright then."

Chiya's hair was then grabbed by Jody, who began to brush it; Seppuku was now applying makeup to her face. Chiya soon found Earl working on her left eyebrow-she had a completely lost look on her face. _What the Bloody Hell is going on?_ Seppuku nodded his head in approval at Chiya as he powdered her cheeks.

"Bendek was right, you do have soft cheeks."

Chiya moved her eyes towards Seppuku with a disturbed look, "Now Seppuku's complimenting me? Now I know that something's wrong…"

A few minutes later, Chiya found herself a completely changed woman-she was wearing a pink dress, blue earrings, white princess gloves, and perfectly combed hair. Earl nodded his head in approval at Chiya, Jody and Seppuku looked at each other and nodded.

"Just one last thing," said Seppuku.

He then roughly forced a shiny gold crown on Chiya's head, she immediately grunted and looked up, "What the- okay, so I'm clearly meant to be some kind of princess…"

Earl quirked his mouth and rubbed his chin, trying to figure out the puzzle. Seppuku brushed Chiya's shoulder and smirked, "Chiya will be taking on the role of Mysterian Queen."

Earl and Chiya both gasped, she immediately lowered her eyebrows and looked at herself in the mirror, "Okay, well, the Queen of Mysteria is like eighty or something…"

Jody crossed her arms together, "You're actually assuming the role of the heir to the throne, her daughter."

Chiya looked into the mirror again and smirked, "Okay, I like this so far…"

"Hold up, just tell us the catch-what's Chiya going to be faced with?" asked Earl.

"Dinner with Princia Ramode and anyone else she may invite," answered Jody.

Earl narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Seppuku, "-and?"

"Chiya will be going to Magica and have simple dinner with Princia, the goal is to tell her about the Federation and how they _do_ want to help them-once they see a planet like Mysteria opening up to us, Magica will open their hotlines with us again."

"So this is just a big ploy to get Magica in the Galactic Federation?"

Jody nodded, Chiya then puckered her lips as she kicked her feet around, "I dunno' about that other stuff, but I'm seriously digging this dress."

Earl grunted at her and looked back at Seppuku, "There's no way she's doing this, what if she makes a mistake and gets thrown in their prison for espionage?"

Seppuku began to laugh, "You didn't actually think you were getting off the hook on this one, did you?"

Earl raised an eyebrow at him, but quickly found that Jody removed his coat. Earl gritted his teeth angrily and turned his head, Jody then put a bright red dress coat with golden buttons on him. Chiya gasped and immediately smiled at him playfully.

"Wha- what role do I play then?"

Seppuku crossed his arms together, "Flower will be the heiress, you will be the Earl."

"The Earl?"

"Yeah, the Earl, Earl."

Chiya tilted her head and hummed in confusion, "What's his role in this?"

"The Queen's daughter was recently married, so Bendek's role is simply to pretend," Chiya raised her eyebrows and smirked, Seppuku then smirked back at her, "Besides, Chiya's too stupid to do this herself, so Bendek will likely be the one speaking for her."

Earl immediately grunted and looked at him, "Wha- me?"

"Hey! I'm not stupid!" she spat back at Seppuku.

"It's actually a simple request, Princia likely has little knowledge on the heiress, so you can probably just make things up as you go-just be sure to get her onboard with the Federation," said Jody.

Earl sarcastically chuckled at Jody and shook his head negatively, "Chiya and me have better things to do, what are we getting out of this?"

Chiya raised an eyebrow at Jody as she wondered the same thing, Jody then sighed and dipped her head down, "Do this for me with little problems, and I will officially ally up with the Lieutenant in the Grand Prix-along with my companions."

Chiya gasped and immediately grabbed her cheeks, _That'd be like five more allies, there's no way Black Shadow's team could win! _Chiya glanced over at Earl quickly, he crossed his arms together and tapped his foot down constantly with a quirked mouth. He momentarily sighed and nodded as he puckered his lips.

"Well, I guess if it ensures Chiya's safety on the track-then sure, I'll do it."

Chiya then lowered her eyebrows sadly and quickly whipped her head back at Jody, "Come on, you have to give him a reward as well…"

Jody narrowed her eyes angrily at Chiya, "His reward, is your safety."

Chiya narrowed her eyes back at Jody and shook negatively, Earl swished his hand down at Chiya, "She's right Chiya, I don't-"

"I'm not doing it then."

Seppuku and Jody both grunted, Chiya then crossed her arms together and turned her head with a defiant look-her eyes closed angrily. Earl widened his eyes and looked back at Seppuku and Jody constantly, then back at Chiya after seeing their anger build up.

"Thank you for the kind gesture Chiya, but I'm fine without compensation."

Chiya pouted and merely jerked her head negatively, Jody momentarily sighed and flailed her hands at Chiya, "Fine, whatever, if this goes better than expected-we can negotiate on Earl's reward."

Chiya slightly opened her eyes and nodded at her, Earl then scratched his neck as he stared at Jody, "So, what if we're uncovered?"

Jody beat her fist against the wall and gritted her teeth, "You'd have to be a real idiot to get caught, this should be a very simple mission with a little imagination!" Earl and Chiya both widened their eyes at Jody as she instantly became fired up; Jody then exhaled, "I have an elite agent in the Federation to call on if needed, you'd be broke out of prison in no time."

Chiya exhaled in relief, then looked at Seppuku, "Why not just send him to rescue us?"

Seppuku chuckled, "Trust me, this agent is a block of steel-she's right, you'd be rescued in no time."

"But don't blow your cover! Because there will likely have to be a bloodbath to get you out," Jody then poked Chiya's forehead roughly, "Also, if you are caught-don't reveal that you're with the Federation, under no circumstance should they know that you are with the Federation, even if everything is going great."

Seppuku then opened Chiya's door and nodded, "If things go well, we should be back on Earth later in the evening."

Jody then approached the door as well and looked back at Chiya and Earl, "So let's go."

Chiya nodded and stood up, she was immediately shocked at how different her footwear felt-normally wearing her jackboots everywhere. She gritted her teeth and took a few slow steps forward, Earl raised an eyebrow at her and momentarily smirked.

"Better get used to that before we get there."

She then held the bottom of her skirt up as she moved forward, she was wearing her usual shorts and shirt underneath the dress. She then gritted her teeth as she looked down at her heels.

"I can tell that my feet are gonna' be hurting in the morning…"

The four soon found themselves traveling through space in Chiya's ship, Seppuku and Jody were sitting on the couch together watching TV. Chiya and Earl were in the kitchen, Earl was helping Chiya learn to walk normally in the heels. Jody narrowed her eyes slowly at the screen and shook negatively.

"Your right, this show is idiotic…"

Seppuku held his hand out towards it, "See! It's Trash TV!"

"Left, right, left, right," Earl repeated as Chiya took quick steps in a straight line.

Earl was now wearing black pants and dress shoes along with the red dress coat. Chiya narrowed her eyes as she watched her feet tremble with every step, she then growled loudly at the sight of little success.

"This is stupid! Why would girls wear this junk?"

"Because it makes them look good."

Chiya quirked her mouth and shook negatively, "Well it's making me look stupid."

Earl rubbed his shoulder and chuckled, "Not as stupid as me, I look like some old Red Coat."

Chiya swished her hand at him, "Whatever, you look fi-ine."

Earl shook his head negatively and quirked his mouth, "This is the strangest mission Seppuku's ever proposed," he then clenched his fist and narrowed his eyes, "He's up to something…"

Chiya then turned around and looked over at the couch, Seppuku appeared to be having a conversation with Jody. She then raised an eyebrow and looked back at Earl, "I doubt it, she said she'd put him in prison if he did anything without her knowing."

Earl slowly turned his head at Chiya, "Her and what army?"

"The Federation."

Earl chuckled and nodded, "Well, they'll need the Japanese army to bring Seppuku down."

Chiya then leaned over the kitchen counter with Earl as they gazed at Seppuku and Jody. The two appeared to be having a serious conversation judging by their faces, Chiya then rubbed her chin and lowered her eyelids.

"Why Vietnam?"

Earl glanced at her for a moment, trying to better understand the question-but momentarily grunted and nodded with a smile, "Cheap beer, great coffee, great land-you and I are still young, we could learn Vietnamese."

Chiya stuck her tongue out slightly at the thought of learning a third language, "Why not America? That sounds exotic too."

"North or South?"

"North" answered Chiya.

Earl chuckled and shook his head negatively, "Sure, let's move to Wisconsin and freeze to death."

Chiya puckered her lips and shook negatively, "Las Vegas, gambling for you-and an adventure for me."

Earl widened his eyes and smirked at her, "I thought you were set on the idea of staying with Seppuku."

"I am, I just-" she then glanced away from him and shrugged, "I dunno'."

"But Vietnam sounds great, where would we live?"

Earl slowly grinned and shut his eyes, "I was thinking we could go settle do-"

Jody suddenly slid around the corner of the kitchen, "I hope you two have your story straight for this dinner, I can't guarantee that we can get you out of prison within the first day if you get caught."

Chiya grunted and nodded at her, "Yes, this is my husband, my mom is dying, I'm prepared to assume the role of Queen upon her death," answered Chiya.

"What was your best memory you had in the Royal Palace?" asked Jody.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and placed her finger on her chin, "U-uh-"

"Think harder before we get there, all you need to do is have convincing stories and reasons to join the Galactic Federation."

"Hey bat, where'd you put the remote?" yelled Seppuku.

Jody then narrowed her eyes angrily and growled, "God, I hate this organization of yours…" she muttered as she turned back towards the living room.

Earl and Chiya simply stood and watched as Jody marched her way back to Seppuku. Chiya blinked a few times and lowered her eyebrows, _They're still not on very friendly terms, but I much prefer them like this…_ thought Chiya. Earl then got a serious look and turned towards Chiya with his arms crossed together.

"She's right, we _can't_ choke on this-we have to be prepared for any surprise questions."

Chiya glanced away from him and lowered her eyebrows with a stressed look, "We only have so long until we get to Magica, there's not enough time for this…"

"I'll be doing the important speaking matters, you just need to have answers for anything that Princia may ask," he then closed an eye and stuck his tongue out, "Like, if she asks about what it's like living in the Palace, just tell her a few made up stories-like how you almost fell off the balcony once."

Chiya puckered her lips and lowered her eyebrows as she thought, "O-or like that one time I left the bath running on accident, and the Palace floors became flooded."

Earl nodded, "See, not that hard; even use past experiences but switch a few things around-maybe your cat Mauser took a piss on the Queen's dress once in the closet."

Chiya dipped her head down and sighed, "Ye-eah…"

Earl then approached the refrigerator and began to dig inside of it, Chiya backed away from him and raised an eyebrow. Earl then pulled out a can of beer and smirked, "In all seriousness, this should be a cake ru-"

Chiya then growled as she grabbed the can of beer, "What are you stupid? You're not drinking before a royal dinner!"

Earl narrowed his eyes at her, "Eh, it's just one can, it won't have much of an effect on me."

Chiya then applied force onto the can, not allowing him to open it, "That's not true, any amount can have effects!" The two then began to enter an angry stare down, Chiya narrowed her eyes at him in frustration, "Can't you just wait until after the dinner?"

Earl tried pulling the can towards him, but Chiya was showing little intentions of letting go. He momentarily growled and jerked his head, "Jesus Christ, fine!"

He then whipped it right out of her hand and put it back into the refrigerator, he immediately slammed it shut and crossed his arms while pouting. "Yeah, this is how I want to spend my life…" he muttered sarcastically.

Chiya widened her eyes and dipped her head down, "I- I'm sorry, I just-"

"Whatever."

Chiya frowned and began to rub her forehead, _I would love it if he gave up drinking, period, but I would accept his habit if we were…_ she quirked her mouth and sighed. "Right after the mission feel free to drink up, I insist."

Earl nodded and leaned over the counter, "Alright, mom."

Chiya's mouth then began to quiver at his insult, she momentarily planted her face into her arm and shook negatively. Earl then widened his eyes and rubbed the back of his head at the clear harm he just did to her, forgetting that Chiya was a very soft person.

"U-uh, yeah thanks though."

Chiya simply nodded her head, her crown fell off of her head and rolled onto the counter; Earl immediately grabbed it and placed it in front of her. He gritted his teeth and widened his eyes as Chiya refused to show her face or even respond to him, Earl was instantly feeling like a jerk.

"Please don't hate me, I don't have anyone left in my world…" Earl immediately gasped and slammed his hands down on the counter in awe, "If I lose you, I might end up just kill-"

"Woah, woah, woah, hit the brakes for a moment; I don't hate you!"

Chiya still kept her head down, Earl momentarily growled and face palmed-this sudden drama was over beer. Earl then grinned and ran his finger across her arm, which was almost completely covered with the long white princess gloves. She momentarily lifted her head up and laid her chin on the table, she had a simple distraught look. Earl exhaled in relief, his initial fear being that she was crying.

"Just forget that even happened, let's just keep talking."

Chiya nodded slightly, but didn't speak. Earl lowered his eyebrows and placed his finger on his lips, wondering how he was suppose to appease someone like Chiya. He then looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "So uh, why do you like cats?" he asked with a fake smile.

Chiya glanced at him with a surprised look, then smiled, "Well, I first started my fondness for cats back on Mysteria when Abby always brought her picture book from school, which was full of fuzzy kitties; I knew I wanted to be a part of this when …"

Earl simply nodded with a smile of relief on his face as Chiya continued to talk about herself. He safely maneuvered the darkened moment.

The four later arrived on Magica, they were all still inside of the ship however with the doors locked-it was critical that Jody and Seppuku were not spotted at any point during the mission. Earl and Chiya both felt that they had enough practice to pull off this mission, a recurring fear everyone had was if Princia would try and turn the event into more than just dinner, but perhaps a tour of the planet-something Earl and Chiya hadn't prepared for. They were all standing inside of the bridge, Earl and Chiya were gazing at the large temple-like structure that was outside of the ship; Magica was yet another desert planet. Jody had a few devices connected to a computer on the ship's dashboard, Seppuku simply stood idly by as they made their final preparations.

"So what, are we just gonna' walk in there?" asked Chiya.

Jody nodded, "Well, we weren't given a welcoming party-though to be fair, Mysteria and Magica are enemies."

Earl smirked at her, "Do they even know that we're coming?"

"Yes," answered Seppuku.

Jody nodded, "I had Dr. Stewart send an encrypted message to Princia this morning, disguised as a message from the Mysterian Royal Family," Jody looked back at Chiya with a stern look, "One of Princia's servants responded saying that her highness would be ecstatic to get a fresh start with the heiress."

"So we're not just gonna' walk in there and get shot up?" asked Earl.

"They would never execute you, it would erupt war between the two planets," answered Jody.

Chiya started to become nervous at the sight of a few men with assault rifles exiting the temple, clearly moving towards the ship, "I suddenly fear that this is a trap…"

Seppuku looked out the window and chuckled, "If they lock you up, we'll get you out, we've got a pro for the job."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and lickered her lips as she stared at Seppuku, _Seppuku keeps speaking highly about this person, this person must be pretty tough…_ Jody sighed and snapped her fingers in frustration.

"Damn, this planet went the extra mile and put static disruptors in the air-meaning we'll barely be able to hear how the dinner goes."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at her, "How would you hear anyways?"

Jody then poked the blue piece of jewelry Chiya had on her chest, "That's not just jewelry, it's a wire."

Chiya quirked her mouth and nodded, "Sweet."

Seppuku then patted Chiya's back, "Get going, I trust that you'll get the job done to the letter."

Chiya hesitantly nodded and looked back at Earl, "Okay, let's do this!"

Chiya then began to walk away with Earl-though she was still having a difficult time walking in her heels.

"We're glad you could make it, this is the first time an official from Mysteria has stepped on Magican soil in ages," a man said as he guided Chiya and Earl through a large hallway.

Chiya was trembling slightly as she walked, swallowing in fear at what she was actually doing-impersonating the future Queen of Mysteria. "Um, yeah, it's been a rough few years of tension between Princia and my mom."

The man glanced back at Chiya with a look of confusion, "Uh, pardon me, but you seem to be having trouble walking?"

Chiya gasped and gritted her teeth, Earl immediately cleared his throat and bit his lip, "She is trying a new pair of heels, but they don't seem to quite fit her."

Chiya nodded quickly, "That's right!"

The man simply nodded and opened a large door for the two, "Her majesty has been speaking about you all morning, Queen Beckins."

Chiya then widened her eyes and got up close to Earl, "Oh crap, what's our names?" she whispered to him.

Earl then widened his eyes as well, then got a disturbed look on his face, "Oh God, I don't know!"

The door then shut behind them, Chiya swallowed with a look of great fear as she was immediately faced with a long table with luxury chairs. The floor was made of black marble and the room temperature was much cooler.

"Queen Beckins, I'm glad you could make it my dear."

Chiya and Earl quickly spun around and found Princia sitting at the end of the table with two of her servants seated next to her. Chiya's eyes began to quiver at the sight of Princia Ramode-who was both a princess and technically a queen. She was wearing a strange looking red baggy leg wear, very long brown boots, a red sports bra, red shoulder pads, red gloves, and a yellow scarf. Chiya was immediately taken back by how unique her hair was, double knotted brown hair leaving two large tails of hair going up in the air.

Chiya immediately cleared her throat and waved to her, "Hi-i…"

Princia raised an eyebrow and momentarily chuckled, "You are much younger than I pictured."

Chiya continued to gaze at her in amazement, "Same here, actually."

Earl let out a fake chuckle and grabbed Chiya's arm, "Come on m'lady, take a seat."

Chiya immediately grunted and allowed for Earl to sit her down at a chair near one of Princia's servants. Earl then sat down next to Chiya and bit his lip, Princia had a coy smile on her face as she stared at the two. Chiya looked down at the table, but found that there was no food to be seen.

"You arrived just a sliver too early, I have my servants preparing a banquet."

Chiya nodded and put her hands together, "Excellent."

Princia slightly giggled and widened her eyes at Chiya, "I'm truly sorry about your mother's condition, she is in our hearts."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, _Yeah right, you and the Queen have been enemies for years…_ She then nodded and revealed a smirk, "Thank you, soon she'll die and I can obtain the throne."

Earl slightly punched her arm, "That's not something a daughter would say about her mom…" he whispered to her.

"Well, I'm glad there is some upside to this then," Princia then closed her eyes and smiled, "I did some research about you, so pardon me if I seem to know a lot about you."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and faked a smile, "Oh really, what's our names then?" Earl smirked at Chiya in approval, a good way to figure this out for themselves.

"Claire Beckins and Sir Kaiser Beckins, correct?"

Chiya and Earl both nodded quickly, Chiya widened her eyes with a smile, "Yep, Claire."

Earl nodded and repeated the name _Kaiser_ in his head constantly, Princia clapped her hands together and nodded, "I won't be offended if you know little about me."

Chiya smirked at her, "I grew up in the Royal Palace, we were always taught that you were a ruthless ruler-but then again, our planets have been rivaling for quite some years."

Earl bit his lip nervously, just waiting for Chiya to accidentally push it too far; fortunately Princia chuckled at this, "A ruthless ruler? All we do here is make extraordinary machine parts-we just so happen to have a military government as well though."

"Machine parts?" asked Earl.

"Yes, we're renown for our excellent machine parts, you'll find that my F-Zero machine; the Spark Moon, is just as capable as the Blue Falcon."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at her, "What do you think about the Grand Prix so far?"

Princia shrugged, "Either Captain Falcon or Lieutenant Seppuku is going to win, not surprising either considering they're in a three-part alliance." Princia then quirked her mouth and shrugged, "Chiya Flower just looked like a klutz last race."

Earl grunted and grabbed Chiya's hand, but Chiya had already lowered her eyebrows in offense, "What do you mean a klutz?"

Princia puckered her lips and shrugged, "Driving with her cockpit opened, attacking good guys, crashing-she seems to be a little too confused to be an F-Zero racer." Earl began to rub her hand, trying to keep her calm; Chiya then proceeded to let out a silent growl at Princia, "I, see that I'm offending you, I apo-"

"Yeah, it's just that Chiya is the racer representing Mysteria, I would appreciate it if you kept your comments about her to yourself," Chiya said hostilely.

Earl cleared his throat and got a nervous look, "Okay, enough talk about that, let's talk about our fondness for F-Zero instead."

Chiya and Princia both nodded with stern looks, but Princia soon smirked and nodded, "Very well."

Seppuku and Jody remained in the bridge of Chiya's ship, Jody exhaled in relief as they had been listening to the conversation through the wire. The reception was fairly bad and had a very static sound.

"That was close, but Chiya kept a cool head," said Jody.

Seppuku was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, "Let's hope that Ramode doesn't talk about killing cats, or insult Earl, because those are things that'll set her off."

Jody quirked her mouth and nodded, "They're clearly pulling it off so far, but when is Earl going to bring up the Federation?"

"Be patient Summer, it would be awkward to just bring that up within the first few minutes-they gotta' break the ice first."

Jody nodded in agreement, "Wow, for once you bring up a good point that doesn't involve murder."

Seppuku began to chuckle deviously, he then picked up a device from the dashboard and stepped away from Jody, "I'm feeling a bit ill, I'll be in the bathroom for a bit-just keep listening to them."

Jody hesitantly nodded, "Whatever."

Seppuku then smirked and began walking away-only he walked right past the bathroom door. He entered the living room and began to head straight for the exit, Seppuku had his own plan in motion.

A few minutes later, Chiya grunted in shock as a huge plate of meat was placed in front of her, there were fruits and vegetables as well placed all over the table. Earl had a completely dazed look as he looked over the table of expensive foods, it was the most he had seen in years.

"I don't think I can eat all of this!" Chiya said in shock at the large slap of meat, which was even wider than her head.

"No one usually can, just feast until your content."

Earl licked his lips and smiled, "You girls are crazy, I may want seconds.

Chiya smiled at him playfully, Princia then raised an eyebrow at the two with a grin, "How did you two get together?"

Chiya and Earl both widened their eyes, Earl set down the fork he had in his hands and lowered his eyebrows-he then looked at Chiya for help. She glanced at him for a few moments and lowered her eyebrows.

"Well, uh…" Chiya tapped her fingers on the table constantly as her mind ran everywhere for a quick answer, she then swallowed nervously and looked at Princia, "I was sketching under a tree one day at a very scenic spot."

Earl then exhaled in relief, able to tell that she would have a believable story, "One day Earl came- the future Earl! Earl of Mysteria, Kaiser came and sat next to me and watched me sketch for a bit…" she lowered her head down and tapped her finger on her chin a few times, "He complimented my work, and for the next few days, he continued to watch me sketch-it soon became a daily thing between us."

Chiya sat up straight again with a faint smile, her confidence was slowly growing, "Sooner or later it wasn't about sketching, we were quickly becoming closer with each other, we even sat up in the tree together a few times," she now had a happy smile on her face as her story quickly became stronger and easier to make up, "I'll never forget that day, the fog was perfectly thick when he finally swept me off my feet and kissed me under the tree-never letting me go."

She then looked at Earl with the same smile, "I've always had crushes throughout my life, but this was the first time I was in love, to this day I still love him and wish to one day start a family with him." Chiya stared Earl in the eyes and momentarily closed them, "We were meant to be, that tree will always be important to me, as it's where I fell in love, met him, and was proposed to at."

Princia had a completely heart warmed look as she held her chest passionately, Earl's eyes were quivering at Chiya after hearing her detailed story. Earl momentarily swallowed and nodded, "Uh, yeah, I never uh, I never have forgotten those days, and could say I'm just as in love with her."

Princia nodded with a heartened smile and wiped her eyes, "Beautiful, I once had a boyfriend I loved…"

Chiya glanced over at her and smiled, "What happened?"

Princia giggled, "Well, he failed to pick me up this one night-so I ordered for his execution."

Chiya and Earl both looked at each other with frightened looks, "Oh my…"

Earl then picked up his fork and knife and began cutting into the meat, "Well, I'm pretty starved right now."

Everyone then began to dig in to their food-except for Chiya. Chiya widened her eyes nervously as she looked at the several different knives, forks, and spoons in front of her. She lowered her eyebrows nervously and reached out for a knife, she held it with two hands and slowly began to cut into the meat. Earl momentarily glanced over at Chiya and widened his eyes, finding that she was struggling at this. Earl quickly bumped his shoulder against hers and stuck his fork inside of the meat. Chiya immediately looked over at him as she silently showed her how to properly cut the meat up.

Seppuku was now inside of the temple, quickly making his way around the hallways. Since there was a Royal Dinner going on, most of the guards were around the lounging area, giving Seppuku the perfect opportunity to sneak his way around. Seppuku was keeping to the right of the hallway where it was dark, wanting to stay as silhouetted as possible. He had his rifle in his hands as he walked, carefully scanning the hallway for a specific room of interest.

"Where's that damn library?" he muttered as he took silent steps.

He looked up at the end of the hallway and found a massive painted portrait of Princia in a white cape and suit-it was made of acrylic paint. He smirked and nodded in approval at the large portrait, "I should consider getting one o-"

"Hey! Stop!"

Seppuku calmly moved his head back into position and found a guard holding an assault rifle at Seppuku. Seppuku simply stood still with his rifle equipped, he then smirked at the guard and shook negatively.

"Sorry, I got lost."

The soldier jerked his rifle at Seppuku as he slowly approached him, "This isn't open to the public! You're in a lot of trouble sir!"

Seppuku began to chuckle, "Oh, you're one to talk."

Seppuku then dashed right up to the guard with a superhuman speed and violently cracked his rifle across his forehead, the guard was instantly knocked straight down onto the floor. Seppuku caught the guard's assault rifle in midair and examined it as he held the guard down with one foot. Seppuku smirked at the rifle as he examined the stock and ammunition clip it used.

"Fancy, I'll be sure to add this to our collection."

The guard grunted constantly as he looked up at Seppuku in fear, "Wait, Lie- Lieutenant Seppuku!?" Seppuku nodded as he put the assault rifle on his back holster. "I thought you were a hero!"

Seppuku then began to chuckle, "To some extent, yes, but overall I still self serve."

The guard widened his eyes and began to tremble as Seppuku applied more force to his cheeks, "Pl- please don't kill me! I have a beautiful famil-"

"I won't kill you, if you help me out, buddy." The guard continued to tremble as he looked up at the devious faced Seppuku, "And please refrain from further pissing yourself."

"So-o, I've heard about the big news…" Princia said with her eyelids lowered.

Chiya smiled at her and nodded, "Ah yes, the big news, like ordinary news-but bigger!"

Earl smirked, "Big news, always interesting."

Chiya shrugged at Princia, "What may I ask, is the big news?"

Princia chuckled at Chiya and pointed down at her, "That you're expecting, congratulations!"

Earl nearly choked on his food upon hearing this, Chiya raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, "Expecting? What exactly?"

Princia smirked at her, "No need to stay silent about it, I'm sure everyone on Mysteria knows by now."

Chiya glanced over at Earl for help, not understanding what she was expecting. Earl momentarily cleared his throat with a somewhat frantic look, "Uh, yeah, I'm very excited for our child…"

Chiya then widened her eyes and got a flattered look, "Oh! Yes, my pregnancy, of course."

Princia then puckered her lips as she looked at Chiya's belly, "Aw, you're already kind of showing!"

Chiya let out a loud gasp and widened her eyes, "What!?"

Earl gritted his teeth and face palmed, Chiya immediately started to poke her belly-as she wasn't actually pregnant. Earl momentarily rubbed his forehead, "I don't see anything yet, she still seems to have a pretty flat belly to me."

Princia shrugged, "Well, I guess I wouldn't know-but you would."

Earl then began to turn red, as Princia had implied that Earl commonly saw her without clothes on. Chiya momentarily smiled and crossed her arms together.

"I'm thinking we should name her something like, Floaty…"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "I don't think so, we'll name her something more appropriate, like Marissa or Shannon."

Princia had a confused look on her face, Chiya then shot back a look of discontent at Earl, "I want our child to be named something unique, like Floaty, or Swimmy."

"Our child would be made fun of, that's not a good idea…"

Chiya then clenched her fists and quirked her mouth, "Well I don't want our kid to have a common name, it should be a rare or one of a kind name-maybe Cookie."

"Cookie's better, but come on-I could easily envision kids making fun of a person with that name…"

Princia scratched her neck and closed one eye as she watched the two challenge each other, "How about Chocolate?"

Earl slammed his fist down, "We're not naming our child Chocolate, Chiya!"

Earl and Chiya then narrowed their eyes at each other and entered a fierce stare down, this continued on for a few moments before Princia cleared her throat.

"Um, perhaps I'm a bit confused, I thought you two established that it would be a boy, and that his name would be Maxwell."

Earl and Chiya stared at her for a few moments, both then got unrealistic smiles and nodded. Chiya rubbed her chin as she closed her eyes, "Uh, yeah, Maxwell-we're just thinking of a backup name incase it's a girl somehow magically…"

The room then remained silent for a few more moments, the situation was now awkward. Earl momentarily broke the silence after grunting, "Actually, I kind of like Cookie…"

"This is the library, what is it you're looking for?"

Seppuku continued to hold the guard with his sword up against his neck, he was scanning the library for any other signs of life-but they were alone.

"I want the blueprints for your F-Zero parts, where do I find it?"

The guard pointed at a computer terminal that was situated across the room, Seppuku then smirked and brought the guard up to the computer. He immediately gasped as Seppuku put a device into the terminal, it immediately began to flash red.

"What are you doing?"

Seppuku smirked and looked back at the door, "Since this planet isn't a part of the Federation, I have little available records on it-this way I can replicate the terminal and access all Magican data from my desk back in Mute City."

"You can't do that!"

Seppuku chuckled at him, "I'm doing it right now, aren't I?" The guard continued to grunt in response, Seppuku had a grin on his face as he watched the progress bar fill up on the device, already at sixty percent, "Don't think of it as stealing, rather Princia's just sharing all available information with me."

"You can't do this, it contains all citizen records-you'd be violating their privacy!"

"I'll violate your brain with my bullet if you don't shut up."

The device momentarily turned green, Seppuku put the device back in his pocket and smirked. "Thank you for the help, I'll be sure to include you in any future novels I may write."

He then roughly dropped the guard on the floor and began to walk away towards the door. He took a step outside of the door but was suddenly met with the sound of several guns cocking, he jolted his head up in shock and looked over his left shoulder-there were about seven guards holding assault rifles at him. Seppuku raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"Good day, gentlemen."

"Stop right there!"

Seppuku then sighed and nodded at them, "Right, guess I'll be leaving now!" he shouted as he immediately began to sprint away from the group of armed men, but he was immediately being pursued despite his incredible speed.

"So here's some bigger news your highness…" Earl said calmly, Princia raised an eyebrow at him, "We've agreed that once the Queen dies, we will be aligning ourselves with the Galactic Space Federation."

Princia immediately lowered her eyebrows somewhat hostilely, "Why?"

Earl had eaten a major portion of his meat by now, Chiya had only taken a few bites of hers. "We were wrong about the Federation, they offer us great resource aid, military disarmament is a small price to pay considering the universe's most powerful protectorate will come to our aid if needed."

Princia lowered her eyebrows and quirked her mouth, "Peculiar, Mysteria of all places is the last planet I assumed would join the Federation…"

Chiya nodded in agreement, "Not to mention, I still get to stay in control of my planet-just gotta' ease up on the people, unlike my mother."

Princia tapped her fingers on the table with a grin, "That is big news, if Mysteria abolishes the military from power, then Magica will surely be the most powerful isolationist planet in the galaxy…"

Earl and Chiya widened their eyes and shook negatively, "Well hold on, you could stay isolated, or you could join the Federation with us and create an official trade bloc with us."

Princia quirked her mouth and nodded a few times, "It would be helpful if nothing else, our economy would certainly rise amongst the ranks…"

Earl then smiled and nodded, "You said you have great machine parts, that can be your export to other planets, you could really prosper by joining in with the Federation!"

Chiya gave Earl a thumbs up under the table, they then smirked at each other and looked back at Princia. She was rubbing her chin, contemplating about the offer carefully. The moment was then broke as a servant came in with very large glasses with a cloudy substance inside.

Princia grinned and reached out for a glass, "Ah, haven't had my ale today," she then took a sip from the alcoholic beverage and opened her eyes at the two, "I'm sorry if this offends, I know you guys are in heavy opposition to alcohol."

Chiya nodded, but Earl slammed his fist down with a grin, "What are ya' crazy? Hit me up with a glass!"

Princia then greatly widened her eyes at Earl, then narrowed her eyes, "Yo- _you_ want to drink something alcoholic?"

Earl nodded quickly at her, "I haven't had a beer all day, I'm dying here!"

Princia then bit her lip and nodded slowly, "Beer? As in the-" she then discontinued her sentence and slid the glass over to Earl, she then got a devious grin on her face, "By all means, drink up…"

Chiya sighed as Earl immediately began to consume the alcohol, _Honestly now, this is just improper…_ Chiya thought angrily.

Princia then aimed a handgun straight at Chiya's face.

"-and so is that!" Chiya panicked aloud.

Earl immediately gasped and dropped the glass back on the table, "Woah, woah, woah!"

Princia chuckled at the two as she rubbed her finger along the trigger, "The legal drinking age on Mysteria is thirty-neither of you are thirty."

Chiya gasped and looked at Earl quickly, "See? I told you beer would kill us!"

"and the term, _beer_, isn't an accepted term on Mysteria-that's strictly a Federation word, how would someone from Mysteria have access to beer?"

Earl and Chiya remained perfectly still, Earl then moved his hand towards the glass slowly again. Chiya glared at Earl as he took another sip from the drink.

"Dude!"

"Hey, come on, even with a gun at our faces I'm still thirsty."

Princia smirked at Earl and aimed at Earl instead, "So, what do you have to say for yourself? What are you intruders doi-"

Just then, Seppuku kicked open the door and came charging towards the table. Princia immediately widened her eyes and gasped, Chiya and Earl both grinned in relief at the sight of their savior.

Chiya clapped her hands together excitedly, "Oh, Seppuku, thank God you ca-"

He then jumped right onto the table, knocking several plates over as he simply ran across the table. Everyone at the table gasped as he simply ran to the door, completely disregarding Chiya and Earl. The guards that were chasing him now stopped in front of the table and stared at the conflict that was going on. Princia clenched her fist and stood up after slamming her fist down.

"Guards! Lock these fools up!"

Chiya and Earl gasped, both were immediately swarmed with guards and forcibly lifted off their feet. Princia crossed her arms and quirked her mouth as she watched the two be escorted away. The guards pushed Chiya and Earl together as they walked them out of the room, guns pointed at their heads. Chiya slowly turned her head towards Earl.

"See what happens when you drink?"

To be continued…


	39. Lap 38

==Lap 38=

It was almost expected that such would happen, a mission to simply have dinner with Princia Ramode became a tragedy for both Chiya and Earl. Both were now locked up together in a very dungeon-like part of the temple, they were locked behind very traditional looking metal bars. The last time Chiya and Earl had seen Seppuku was when he leapt onto the table of food and sprinted out the door while evading the guards. Seppuku and Jody had assured them that they had someone who could break them out of containment if they were caught-this was their last hope.

Chiya and Earl were sitting on the cold floor together, Earl had removed his red dress coat and was in his usual white T-shirt; Chiya remained in her pink dress. The two were completely silent, praying that their savior would come at any moment; but both seemed to have their doubts that they would be rescued within the day. Both Chiya and Earl had saddened looks, Earl was simply staring at the metal bars with a frown. Chiya momentarily sighed and grabbed her knees.

"I guess I might not be completing my first Grand Prix after all…" she muttered aloud sadly.

Earl gritted his teeth and held his face while shaking negatively, "I'm so sorry Chiya, this is all my fault…"

Chiya looked up at him with a sad look, "What? No, no…"

Earl dipped his head down in shame, "My incredible lust for beer got us in here."

Chiya licked her lips, she knew that it was indeed the alcoholic beverage that Earl requested that got them caught, but she couldn't find the strength to blame him. Chiya crossed her arms together and shook negatively.

"This is all Jody and Seppuku's fault."

Earl turned her head away from her, "Whatever, we almost pulled it off, but I blew our cover wi-"

"Okay, how were you suppose to know that the drinking age was so high on my planet?" Earl blinked a few times at her, she then closed her eyes and quirked her mouth, "I don't know what we're gonna' be faced with, but if it's execution-then I'm going with you."

Earl smirked and nodded, "I think that's kind of the plan…"

"We die together."

Earl nodded, "Yes, I know."

Chiya returned a saddened look as Earl seemed to be without any hope, given, Chiya wasn't any more hopeful as him but she was trying to remain bright none-the-less. Earl crossed his arms together and exhaled, then looked back up at her.

"They probably won't execute us right away though, they'll interrogate us first," Chiya widened her eyes at him, after being interrogated by Brock Blaskovitz, she truly understood the term _interrogation_ better than anyone else, "I'm probably looked at as the guy with the knowledge on the mission, so I'll take one for the team and try to stay tough through it-I'll emphasize constantly that you know nothing about the plan."

Chiya grabbed her face and shook negatively, "D- don't talk like that, it'll all be okay."

Earl frowned at her and momentarily nodded, he then put great force into building a faint smile-a fake smile, "Hey, come on, I doubt Seppuku's just leaving us to die, we'll be out of here in no time."

Chiya looked up at him, "It's been hours, we were suppose to be back home by now…"

Earl puckered his lips and nodded, "Stay strong, we shouldn't be executed anyways-the only crime we really committed was eating free food."

Chiya stared at Earl's fake smile, but was convinced that this was an actual smile-she momentarily smiled as well, becoming inspired by Earl's bravery through the situation. She then brushed her hair back and looked at the metal bars that separated them from freedom.

"How often does Princia race?" asked Chiya.

Earl rubbed his chin as he thought back, "I only remember her racing once, and she did pretty damn good-I think she got sixth or fifth?"

Chiya quirked her mouth and shook negatively, "Honestly, I don't understand, she seems like such a nice person-how could she do this to us?"

"I think it's fair game, but only if she releases us without punishment-we didn't do anything, but I'm suddenly frightened as to why Seppuku was in the temple…"

Chiya widened her eyes and began to bite on her fingernail fearfully, _Oh my God, Jody told him that she'd have him locked away if he did something like this-now we may not have Seppuku to rescue us, and Jody might be so mad that she didn't bother get someone to set us free!_ Chiya panicked in her mind. She looked at Earl with a shell-shocked look, realizing that they may be done for after all. The sight of Earl so enthusiastic still was very damaging to her morale, she was convinced that they may be completely alone. Chiya slowly dipped her head down in disbelief, as much as she didn't want to, she had to tell Earl that it was likely over.

"Seppuku broke Jody's rule, she's gonna' lock him away…"

Earl immediately dropped his smile and widened his eyes, "Crap, you're right." He then stared at her with a look of nervousness, "Do you think they'll still send help?"

No, they won't…

she then swallowed and nodded her head with a fake smile, "Oh yeah, no problem, they'll just get us free, we'll head back to Mute City, pack our things, and live happily ever after in Vietnam…" Earl smiled at her plan, but Chiya knew that this wasn't going to happen.

Chiya then planted her face down onto her arms and shook negatively, Earl lowered his eyebrows and nodded, "Oh, I see…" he muttered, easily reading her mind.

Chiya then growled and kicked her feet down constantly, "Damn these heels, my feet are gonna' be so swollen now!" she said as she slightly lifted up her skirt-she was still wearing the pink shiny heels that were giving her so many problems.

Earl stared at her heels and shrugged with a smile, "Want me to give you a foot massage?"

Chiya immediately lowered her eyebrows angrily, "Hell no!"

Earl widened his eyes at her in shock and momentarily smiled, "Sorry, thought girls liked that."

Chiya lowered her skirt again and bit her lip, "I bet most girls do, but I'm just self-conscious about my feet."

"Why? Something wrong with them?"

She immediately shook negatively, "No, they're fine, I just don't feel comfortable with people staring at em'," she then smirked, "Never was a fan of the flip-flop."

Earl nodded and smirked at her, "Not even if it's _me_ doing the massage?"

"Hey, buddy, I'd sooner let you do a breast massage on me than a foot massage, that's how self conscious I am."

Earl widened his eyes, "So you're more comfortable showing your breasts than your- wait, breast massage?"

Chiya nodded, "Me and Abby did that to each other sometimes as well-usually with a backrub preceding it."

Earl immediately got a somewhat red face as his faint grin was quivering, "So u-uh, how old was Abby then?"

"Twelve, when I left."

Earl cringed and closed his eyes, "Oh geez, I was hoping she was only like a year younger than you or something."

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "_Hoping_?"

Earl then quirked his mouth and face palmed, "Anyways, you should probably take those things off if they hurt so much-your skirt seems to be covering your feet anyways."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and puckered her lips, she momentarily nodded and did so. She then made a long sigh and looked at the metal bars again with a sad look, she held her cheek and dipped her head as she continued to lose hope for freedom. _Where is Princia anyways, we've been in here for hours now, are they just gonna' leave us here to starve to death?_

There was a bathroom in the cell with a door thankfully, so Earl and Chiya could still use the restroom with privacy. She then sighed and looked back at Earl, who was now looking towards the bars as well. She put her hands together and began to chew on her lip with her eyebrows lowered.

"Earl."

He looked back at her and nodded, "Yep?"

She remained silent as she looked back at the bars nervously, she continuously glanced at him with a troubled look on her face, "Seeing as to how we might not get out of this alive…"

He immediately responded by closed one of his eyes and quirking his mouth, she grunted a few times as she pressed her fingers together roughly, "Um, I just thought that maybe, we could do something we both would enjoy-now that you brought it up…"

He blinked at her a few times in confusion, immediately trying to think back to what it was that he brought up. She then gritted her teeth and glanced away from him, "I mean, not now, but maybe later on if all seems lost-or if we're told that execution will be our punishment…"

"Do what?"

She swallowed nervously and licked her lips, "Uh, well, you know, you could kind of like, give me a massage-since we'd both enjoy it."

Earl lowered his eyebrows and chuckled, "I don't have a foot fetish or anything…"

"N- no, not there."

Earl rubbed his forehead and shook negatively, "Not the feet? Whe-" he then widened his eyes and gasped, "Wait, you're serious?"

She looked down at the floor and nodded, "I mean, why not?"

Earl found that his eyebrows were twitching at the proposal, feeling that the right thing to do would be to decline-yet he found himself considering it. "Why would you enjoy it?"

She shrugged and began to blush, "Be- because of the massage portion, of course…"

He then dipped his head down and looked at the bars again, then back at Chiya, "Wh- what would I have to do?"

"You just sit behind me and work under, between, and around my chest," she then gave him a fierce look, "But you never move into the center of any of my breasts, understand?"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, finally building the courage to look her in the eyes, "So I can massage any part of the breast except for…"

"Yes, if I so much as feel your hand touch me there-I'll slap you so hard that you'll need a cheek transplant!"

Earl then crossed his arms and laughed, "God, I don't think there's anyone I'd rather be with in a cell than you," Chiya smiled at him, accepting the compliment, "Well, except maybe for Captain Falcon or Michael Chain, those guys could probably tear down these bars or something…"

Chiya then lowered her eyelids, "Nice Earl…"

He then placed his finger on his lip, "U-uh, actually not Michael Chain, I would never want to be alone in a cell with that guy…"

"Chiya Flower!"

Both Earl and Chiya turned towards the bars with a surprised look, Princia was slowly approaching the cell with a smile on her face. Chiya immediately widened her eyes and quickly got up, putting her feet back in the heels. She then ran up to the bars and latched her hands around them desperately.

"Please Princess Ramode! This is a huge misunderstanding!"

Earl got up as well and smirked at Princia, "How did you figure out Chiya's real identity?"

"Honestly, how didn't I at first, I must've been a bit lightheaded during dinner." She poked Chiya's forehead and smiled, "Firstly, it did cross my mind when she walked in that she looked like the new racer; but when she started defending Chiya during our race conversation, that should have just been obvious to me…" Chiya sighed and dipped her head down, "Regardless of that, you even called her Chiya during your baby argument with each other-but for some reason I missed that important hint."

"How was our acting?" asked Earl.

"Superb!" she responded gleefully.

Chiya began to jerk on the bars with a distraught look, "Just let us go! We'll leave immediately!"

Princia snapped her fingers and laughed, "Oh yeah, then there was Lieutenant Seppuku-he went ahead and stole from our database, so we can add criminal assistance to your charges."

Earl sighed, "Ah, so that was the real point to this mission, eh'?"

"If you're gonna' kill us, you're gonna' kill us together, we die together as friends!"

Princia gasped at her and shook negatively, "_I'm_ not going to kill you! I'm selling you!"

Chiya and Earl both gasped, Earl then grabbed the bars and growled at her, "What do you mean _selling_ us?"

Princia pointed at Earl and smiled, "Brock Blaskovitz is the only one who listed a bid on you," she then pointed at Chiya, "You, on the other hand, have a lot of bidders-mostly pimps from the red-light district of Port Town."

"What!?"

Earl beat his hand against the bars, "You bastard!"

She shrugged at him, "Blaskovitz is currently bidding the highest for both of you though, so don't worry."

Chiya and Earl gasped, Chiya immediately began to whimper and shake constantly with a look of trauma, "Elbows, knees!" she panicked.

Earl widened his eyes greatly and looked back at Princia, "Okay seriously Princia, you _can't_ have a heart if you let Blaskovitz take Chiya again-surely you heard what he did to her?"

Princia raised an eyebrow at him and looked at the trembling Chiya, "Wait, Blaskovitz works with Black Shadow?"

Earl nodded quickly, "Please, I beg of you, don't let Blaskovitz take her-he wants to continue torturing her, and wants to start on me."

Princia looked at Chiya again, who was now pulling her hair in disbelief at this. She then nodded at Earl and smiled, "Okay, I'll see what I can do about removing his bids."

Earl and Chiya both gasped, Earl blinked a few times at Princia, "Wha- wait, really? You're just gonna' listen to me?"

Princia nodded, "Of course, I'm not heartless, I just want to make some extra cash off of this-the next highest bidder for Chiya is Samurai Goroh actually." Chiya narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, Earl nodded with a grin, he felt that they could get her back from Goroh if it came down to it, "I'll try and keep Blaskovitz from buying you as well Earl."

"How do you know _my_ name?"

She prepared to walk away but flirtingly giggled as she looked back at him, "Well, you are kinda' cute, so I did a quick background check on your little organization…"

Earl continued to hold the bars tightly as he watched Princia leave, he was ultimately confused as to whether she was bad or not-he was assuming that she was just greedy, as it seemed that she had some sympathy for both of them. Earl then looked back and found that Chiya was once again sitting on the floor with her hands covering her face. Earl silently stared at her and momentarily nodded, realizing that they were in very deep trouble if Blaskovitz came to retrieve them.

Hours later, Chiya lay in Earl's arms against the wall of the cell. She had finally taken off her dress-though she had been wearing her shorts and shirt underneath the entire time. The only thing missing was her usual hat. Earl was rubbing her hair as they sat together, Chiya simply felt more secure in his arms. Earl smiled as he ran his finger down her hair, which was still brushed perfectly.

"I wish you would just keep your hair like this all the time, it's just so nice."

Chiya shrugged, "I could try, if we survive this mess."

Earl dipped his head down and grunted, "I apologize if I seem a bit crazy about your hair and soft skin, it's kind of what I find irresistible about a girl," he then grinned and closed his eyes, "Kind of like your lust for guys muscles."

Chiya immediately grunted and shook negatively, "I don't have a lust for guys muscles, just…" she then looked over at Earl's arm and smiled, "Just uh, certain guys."

Earl chuckled and let go of her hair, "Well regardless, your hair can be played around with so well, you're a lucky person."

"I used to always have a pony tail."

"Really?"

She then dipped her head down and shook negatively, "But after the Mysterian bombing, I never did it again, it reminds me of that dark day…"

"Let's not talk about that, the dark theme will ruin the moment."

Chiya began to laugh and flailed her hand around the room, "What moment? This dark depressing cell where we await purchasing like some animal at a humane society?"

"Yes."

"Oh…" she then laid her head back against his neck and smiled, "What should we talk about next then?"

Earl looked down at the happy Chiya and momentarily lowered his eyebrows, "Well…" he then placed his hands on her shoulders, "How about the Grand Prix, think you'll rank amongst the top six in the end?"

Chiya widened her eyes as she felt his fingers begin to rub against her back shoulders. She swallowed nervously and nodded, "Oh, uh, I think I have a pretty good chance of winning still, just gotta' nail this next race and I'll be back up in the lead."

She then had a nervous smile as Earl continued to inch his fingers back and forth on her shoulders, she let out a slight moan of pleasure and tilted her head.

"Did I pinch you?"

"No…" she muttered back.

He then continued, leaving Chiya with a somewhat perverse smile, Earl then smirked, "Too bad this didn't go well, maybe we could've made off with one of Princia's F-Zero engines, the Purring Kitten still needs a better engine."

Chiya had her eyes closed and teeth gritted, "Yeah, that woulda' felt nice…" she then widened her eyes and blushed, _Would have been nice…_ she corrected in her head. She then found her legs easing up, momentarily stretching them further along with Earl's.

"I'm sure everything will still work out, if Goroh claims you-we'll get you out, unless of course I'm unable to escape from my captor, in which you may end up saving me."

Chiya placed her fingers around the bottom of her shirt and bit her lip nervously, _Should I really do this? Will he think I'm weird?_ she then slowly began to lift her shirt up, waiting to see if he responded negatively. She then found that Earl stopped rubbing her shoulders as her shirt was raised high enough-but he didn't object or question her motives. _That settles it then, this is gonna' happen…_ she thought nervously.

She then removed her shirt and laid back again, now only in her black bra, "Yo- you can keep doing that, you said you liked smooth skin, so…"

Earl then placed his hands on her shoulders again and continued, Chiya exhaled in relief and now felt like melting. She now had a lustful look on her face, realizing that this felt absolutely right to her. _He refuses to kiss me twice, but he doesn't get creeped out that I took my shirt off? Maybe he is a bit perverted…_ she thought fearfully.

"I'm gonna' guess your entire family has skin like this then?"

She nodded affirmatively, "I'm smoother than Abby, it's a natural trait the Flower family has."

"Very nice."

Chiya had her mouth left open as he was now working on her back, "That's nice…"

Earl began to chuckle as he looked down at her, "This would look weird if someone came to check up on us."

"I don't care."

"Me either."

Chiya grunted and looked down at her chest, the sight of Earl's fingers were slightly visible to her. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion as she stared at his nails, _What's changed? He's always been someone of honor and respect, but he was never like this before…_ She smiled and lowered her eyelids, _There was a time where we only hung out in the garage and sometimes the café, now he's giving me a backrub!_ She laid her head back again and exhaled slowly. She then placed her hands on her breasts and grunted.

"Do you, wanna'…" Earl immediately grunted and widened his eyes, "You're clearly a pro at massages, so I mean…"

"I kind of thought you were kidding before honestly…" he muttered in shock.

She hesitantly shook her head negatively, "Well, I mean, if Blaskovitz captures me again, it's curtains…" she then leaned forward and got a serious look on her face, "I don't think I would be able to cope with the torture-there's no way I'd wanna' live…"

Earl gasped and lowered his eyebrows, Chiya rubbed the back of her head and nodded, "I'll be honest, if that _is_ what it comes to, I'd like to remember my last day like…" she then shook her head negatively and breathed in, "I mean, I just-"

"No, I see what you're saying," he then smirked and put his chin on her shoulder, "To be honest, if you died at Blaskovitz's hands, I would devote the rest of my life just to hunting them." He closed his eyes as he hugged Chiya, instantly sending her into a state of shock, "I would never give up, not until either me or Black Shadow and his goons are dead."

"Wha- what if you succeeded and killed them all?"

Earl took his chin off of her but remained holding her, "Suicide."

"What!?" she immediately spat back in shock.

"Please respect my intentions Chiya, I once worked alone with Seppuku-no friends, just girlfriends that meant little to me," he then sighed, "If you died, I'd be in that same position-except I'd leave Seppuku's organization in a flash." She then tapped his fingers on her a few times, "I'd be left with nothing, given, I could go back to Korea-but only because of you."

He then took a few moments of silence and grinned, "The memories of Chiya Flower would forever haunt me, even if I had a wife, I would forever be haunted by you-therefore I would just want to be set free."

"Heaven?" Chiya simply proposed.

"That's the other part of it, I'd rather just…" he then grunted and smiled, shaking his head negatively, "That's enough for now, I'm deviating a bit aren't I?"

The two then endured a few moments of silence, before Chiya slowly moved her hands to her back and unclipped her bra, but she immediately grabbed it before removing it. Chiya and Earl both blushed and had shy looks on their faces, Earl hesitantly placed his hands on her belly and began to move upward. Chiya could feel her heart begin to beat faster as he very slowly moved his hands up. _This is really happening…_ she thought in amazement. Earl's eyes were quivering as he brought his hands up to her ribs, the slow approach Earl was making was only making the moment more suspenseful for Chiya. She then silently gasped and lowered her eyebrows. _I should probably get off his waist…_ she then slid off of him slightly and got between his legs instead. The moment then arrived, and both Chiya and Earl were taken back slightly in awe as he grasped the bottom of her breasts, his fingers going slightly into her cleavage.

Chiya let out a squeal of pleasure, Earl was overly shocked at what he was doing. He swallowed in disbelief, though he found that he wasn't massaging her like she wanted-Chiya still seemed to be melting without the massage. Earl then exhaled and nodded, prepared to finally explore Chiya's breasts.

CRACK. CRACK.

Chiya and Earl instantly jolted up straight and gasped, Earl immediately took his hands off of Chiya at the sound of gun fire.

"Woah!" Earl shouted as he instantly got on his feet.

Chiya immediately stood up and hooked her bra on again, then threw on her shirt, "That must be for us!"

Earl exhaled in relief, somewhat glad that he didn't go any further on Chiya-as this could have complicated their friendship. Chiya and Earl both ran up to the bars, the sound of rapid gunfire could then be heard, the hallway was flashing constantly with every shot. Three guards with assault rifles then ran past their cell, but one of them was instantly knocked down dead by a bullet. Chiya then gasped and was thrown back with Earl as several bullets began to whiz past the cell, many of which bounced off the walls. Chiya and Earl were now down on the floor together trembling.

"Yeah, that's definitely for us!" shouted Earl.

The two then gasped at the sound of an explosion, followed by more gunfire. They could easily tell that whoever was here to save them-was heavily armed. Chiya got back up on her feet and continued to tremble in fear, Earl was still on the floor with a look of shock. The gunfire was getting even louder as time quickly went by, the person was getting closer by the second.

"Is it Seppuku?" asked Chiya.

Earl shook negatively, "He uses a rifle, this person must be shooting a freaking minigun or something!"

Earl got up by Chiya and began trembling alongside her, within a few moments the gunfire stopped-everything was once again silent. Chiya and Earl both stood silently with their mouths left open, they could then momentarily hear slight footsteps approaching them. Chiya swallowed nervously as she began to envision what their rescuer would look like, imagining a very strong man.

Both Chiya and Earl both gasped as a girl holding two SMG's came calmly walking towards the cell with a smile. She had silver-blonde hair, a sky-blue bomber jacket, and pink camouflaged bra and pants. The girl had a pair of goggles hiding her eyes.

"Ready to go?" she asked with a smile, Chiya and Earl were both jaw dropped at what they were looking at, the girl then raised an eyebrow at them while still smiling, "Hm?"

Chiya immediately pointed her finger at the girl in disbelief, "Yo- you're just a little girl!"

The girl immediately took offense to this and stomped her foot down, "Ey' I aint' a kid, I'm fourteen!"

Chiya and Earl then glanced at each other for a moment, Earl shrugged and looked at her, "How do you plan on getting us-"

She then pulled out a grenade and began to laugh loudly, Chiya and Earl both gasped and ran back to the wall they had just been getting _intimate_ at. The girl then laid the grenade down and leapt away from the bars. Earl grabbed Chiya as the grenade detonated-but it wasn't as powerful as the common hand grenade. Chiya opened her eyes and grunted in shock at the completely knocked over bars. The girl then leapt back towards them and smiled.

"Come on! We gotta' get going before more guards arrive!"

Chiya held her hand out towards the girl, "Gun please?"

She then began to laugh at Chiya, momentarily turning away from her, "No way."

"B- but you have two submachine guns in your hands right now," challenged Earl.

"Yeah, well I'm using them, so let's go!"

Both Chiya and Earl narrowed their eyes and glanced at each other, but ultimately decided to run alongside this girl they had just met.

The three were now sprinting down the hallways of the temple, Chiya and Earl both had completely frightened looks as they ran-unlike the girl, who had the same smile on her face. She looked back at them as she ran with her guns aimed in front of her.

"Ms. Summer and the Lieutenant are waiting just outside of the temple, you guys just get in the ship and I can hold any leftovers off."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and shook negatively, "Are you even part of the Federation?"

"Yep!"

Two guards then came around the corner of a hallway, but the girl had completely blown them away in a hellstorm of small bullets. She then began to laugh as they ran past the defeated bodies, Chiya widened her eyes at the girl as she found some kind of thrill out of killing.

"Ah, the beauty of annihilation!"

"You remind me a lot of Seppuku…" said Chiya.

"Well, duh."

Chiya then raised an eyebrow at her as they got closer to the temple entrance, it was becoming abundantly clear to both Chiya and Earl that nothing would stop this girl. She aimed a gun at the dining room door while holding one straight in front of her-cautiously waiting for anyone to suddenly jump out at them. The sound of a speaker could then be heard turning on throughout the temple.

"You have made your point, just get out of my temple and leave Magica, and I will refrain from sending in the military," Princia said throughout the base.

The girl then lowered her weapons and shook negatively, "Aw, where's the fun in that?"

Chiya and Earl ran past her and continued towards the door, Chiya could instantly see her ship just outside of the temple-only it was parked right in front of the door with the ramp in plain sight.

"We're home free!" Chiya yelled to Earl.

The girl was now running alongside them backwards, making sure that they weren't being pursued as they approached the ship. Chiya and Earl had instantly leaped onto the ramp together and ran straight inside with an adrenaline rush, the girl momentarily backed her way up the ramp with her guns still equipped-she momentarily hit a button on the wall, thus closing the loading ramp. Within mere seconds, the ship took off.

Chiya and Earl walked together to the living room, both immediately collapsing onto the couch together and exhaling. Earl momentarily widened his eyes and let out a laugh of relief.

"We're free!" he said gleefully to Chiya.

She smirked at him and nodded, "Yeah we are!"

Seppuku and Jody momentarily entered the living room, Seppuku had a grin on his face, Jody had a look of discontent-and the girl had a happy smile.

"See, told you that we'd get you out," said Seppuku.

Chiya looked at the girl and flailed her hands at her, "Uh, yeah! Who the Heck is this?!"

The girl then lifted her goggles up at last, revealing two silver-blue eyes, "Lily Flyer, who the Hell are you?"

Chiya gasped and rubbed the back of her head, "Chiya Flower."

Seppuku walked over to Lily and placed his hand on her shoulder with a smile, "Chiya, _this_ is who you were suppose to turn into, but instead you remained your stupid, silly, and cute self."

Chiya widened her eyes at Lily, "Her? Who is this though?"

Jody crossed her arms and quirked her mouth, "Lily is our model soldier in the special ops branch of the Federation-she has extraordinary skills in stealth, demolitions, close quarter combat, and many other of those things."

Chiya nodded at Lily with a look of awe, "So you were planning on turning me into her?"

Seppuku nodded, "When I first met you Flower, I put you on a test, I gave you the handgun-the next time I found you, you still had it, and used it." He then crossed his arms and shook negatively, "Considering you fired at Michael Chain and drove me back to my base, I assumed you were some hardcore natural born fighter."

Earl began to chuckle, "Well, she's not."

Lily wrapped her hand around Seppuku and grinned, "Seppuku was my mentor for many years, a damn shame when the Federation let em' go."

Seppuku grinned, "You'll always be my daughter, Lily."

Chiya and Earl both gasped, Chiya then flailed her hands at Lily, "She's your daughter!?"

"No, but she as might as well be, I consider her somewhat like a daughter."

Lily chuckled and nodded, "Seppuku's been a father figure to me since I was little."

"Why didn't you join Seppuku's organization?"

Jody smirked and stomped her foot down, "Because Lily is dedicated to the Galactic Space Federation."

Lily nodded, "I do however, support every little thing you guys do." She then gave Chiya a thumbs up, "Killed Blaskovitz, became a racer, coped through torture-you're pretty hardcore bro."

"_Bro_?" asked Earl.

Seppuku shrugged, "Flower, you have some interest in America, if you wanna' know more about it, ask Lily-she's American."

Earl began to chuckle, "Ah, now things are making sense…"

Chiya exhaled, "Well thank you for rescuing us, that cell was dark and there was nothing to do for hours."

Jody and Seppuku then began to silently laugh, Chiya widened her eyes and looked back and forth at the two, "What?"

Seppuku then smirked at her, "That's not what we heard…"

Chiya and Earl both widened their eyes, Chiya then gritted her teeth nervously, "Pardon me?"

Jody grabbed Chiya's hair and began to brush it with her fingers, "Sounded like you two were playing around a bit…" she said silently.

Chiya immediately gasped and stood up, Earl was now wide-eyed. Chiya grabbed Seppuku's coat and grinded her teeth angrily, "How did you-"

"The Princess dress had a wire, remember?"

Earl then slowly face palmed, Chiya had a quivering smile and momentarily fell back onto the couch. Seppuku then began to chuckle, "Won't lie, it was an interesting scene trying to envision, but I'm glad you two had fun."

Earl's face was completely red, hiding himself behind his hands. Chiya then shook her head constantly, "I- I assure you, it was just a moment of comfort-seeing as to how we could have been killed."

Lily crossed her arms together and rolled her eyes, "Aw-wkwa-ard…"

Chiya flailed her arms around with a red face, "No, no, it's not awkward! It was just a massage!"

Everyone began to laugh at Chiya as she entered such a panic, she gritted her teeth and widened her eyes. She momentarily glanced over at Earl, he was still covering his face-but Chiya was relieved to see something. He was laughing as well. Chiya momentarily lowered her eyebrows and revealed a smile, then began to chuckle as well while blushing.

"Okay, alright…" she said loudly.

Chiya couldn't find anger in this, Earl was laughing, Seppuku was laughing, even Jody was laughing-in a world where Seppuku and Jody were legitimately laughing together, she couldn't find discomfort. Earl was the one who appeared most embarrassed though, likely because he was the one who gave in and groped the bottom of her breasts. Jody momentarily crossed her arms and stared into Chiya's eyes, her smile momentarily breaking. Chiya then broke her smile as well, entering a stare off with Jody. Within a few moments, the room was turned silent.

"I- is there a problem?" asked Chiya.

Jody stood motionlessly for a few moments, she shook her head negatively at Chiya and narrowed her eyes. "Something isn't right, you're such a nice person, you couldn't possibly hurt someone without reason…" Chiya widened her eyes at her, Earl had removed his hands from his face and tuned in, "You can't be a criminal, there must be a misunderstanding…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily, "That's right! I'm no criminal, it was a family related matter that put me in hot water."

Jody nodded, "I know Chiya, perhaps I've been misjudging you since I discovered what you had done."

Earl slowly raised an eyebrow at Jody, Chiya nodded in approval. Jody then gritted her teeth together and shook negatively, "Chiya, I need to know-answer me this question, and the Federation will side with you in the Grand Prix…"

Chiya and Earl both widened their eyes at Jody, she then breathed in loudly and widened her eyes at Chiya.

"Chiya Flower, in the name of the Galactic Space Federation…" she then pointed at Chiya with a perfectly straight finger, everyone was watching in awe, "Why did you kill your father?"

To be continued…


	40. Lap 39

==Lap 39=

What was just a room of laughter, was now a room of shock and sadness. Jody had just asked why Chiya killed her father-the dark past she had been hiding for six years. Chiya's eyes were wide opened as she trembled and quivered her eyes in disbelief, she was completely stunned by the question, and that Earl and Seppuku finally learned the truth. Jody was staring at Chiya with an intimidating look, Lily had a raised eyebrow and smirk as she watched the sudden drama.

"Chiya, is this true?" Earl asked with a shocked look.

Chiya was slightly hyperventilating as she looked back at Earl quickly, she began to grunt constantly as she looked around at everyone, "I- I, I can't…" she shook her head negatively and breathed in unclearly.

"Answer me," Jody demanded.

"Answer her," demanded Seppuku.

Chiya gasped and looked back at Earl for a moment-his opinion seemed to be what mattered to her most. Earl put his hand on her shoulder and revealed a faint smile, "You can do it Chiya, fight your feelings."

She widened her eyes at him and shut her eyes tightly as she began to grunt some more, "I don't- I didn't, it wasn't murder…"

"Mysteria has proof that it was, and your sister confirmed this, speak," challenged Jody.

Lily chuckled and crossed her arms together, "Killed your own daddy, must've been one abusive bastard."

Chiya gasped and shot her eyes open widely, "No! I loved dad! He was my favorite person in the world!"

Earl immediately grabbed her hand and began to rub them, "Alright, alright, we're all friends here Chiya…"

Seppuku smirked and looked at Jody, "Most of us are…"

Chiya then looked Earl in the eyes and began to water, he stared back at her and nodded, "You helped me conquer my issues, now let _us_ all help you."

Chiya then gasped and grasped Earl, throwing herself into his chest. Earl immediately widened his eyes and moved his hands up in the air as Chiya hid her face in his white shirt, Earl then lowered his eyebrows and licked his lips as he looked at everyone. Seppuku then crossed his arms and smirked.

"Man Bendek, she's all over you tod-"

"I swear I didn't want to, I- I had to though, no one else would!" she said loudly and sadly.

Earl gritted his teeth and began to rub her hair, "From the beginning Chiya, stay calm and just tell the story."

Earl then grunted as Chiya wrapped her arms around him much more tightly, now beginning to whimper and jerk her head constantly. Earl's eyes were quivering at her, wondering what she was doing to his chest that was provoking her to jerk her head constantly. He then put his hands both in front and back of her head, slowly lifting her face up at him. Earl immediately gasped at an image he thought he would never see; Chiya's eyes were completely flooded with water, constant tears going down her face as she continued to whimper loudly. Chiya closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she constantly shook her head, she then moved her finger up to her eyes-but Earl grabbed it and prevented her from doing so.

"S- stop it Earl…"

A tear rolled down Earl's face as well as she shook negatively at her, "Just let it out Chiya, hiding your sorrow isn't proving a thing to anyone."

Chiya's eyes quivered at him, now seeing that Earl was shedding a tear for her. She then shut her eyes again and planted herself against his shirt again, now openly crying with somewhat loud mourning. If what Chiya had always said was true, this was the first time she had cried in six years. Earl momentarily crossed his neck with hers and patted her back with teary eyes.

"It's okay Chiya, just fire off your emotions…"

She continued to cry loudly as she nodded, "I- I miss my dad so much! Why- why did this have to happen?!" she mourned as constant tears dripped off of her chin.

Seppuku was simply staring at the two with a stern look, his arms crossed strictly together as he still waited for Chiya's explanation. Jody momentarily glanced at Seppuku, "Did you guys not know about this or something?"

Seppuku shook negatively, "She didn't want to tell us what happened."

Jody puckered her lips and nodded. Chiya continued to shake her head constantly as she cried-it was as if every sad moment of her life had built up to this, she was dripping tears rapidly and had a red face, Earl had a much more calm rate of tears going down his face.

"P- please don't let go of me Earl! I'm not a bad person! I'm not!"

"I know Chiya, I know…"

Seppuku then slid over by Jody and leaned towards her, "Between you and me, I think she's also on her monthly…" he whispered.

Earl momentarily removed Chiya from his chest and sat her next to him again, he then began to wipe her eyes with his own hand. Lily immediately cringed and stuck out her tongue.

"E-ew!"

Chiya sat still with her legs crossed and breathed in, she then nodded as a few more tears went down her face. Earl grabbed her hand again and nodded, "Feel better now that you finally gave in?"

Chiya dipped her head down and sighed, "Yes, but now I demonstrated weakness-Seppuku's right, I'm just a jellyfish…"

Seppuku crossed his arms together and stomped down, "Crying doesn't make you weak, given, me and Lily don't cry-but in your case, crying would only make you feel better, thus making you recover faster." Earl gasped and slowly nodded at Seppuku, "What part of recovering is weakness?"

Chiya wiped her eyes and shook negatively, Earl then nodded, "He's right Chiya, there's no shame in mourning over a loved one." He then put his fingers together and glanced away from her, "God knows I have a few times before…"

Chiya grabbed her chest and lowered her eyebrows, letting out a long exhale, "My dad was a prominent member of the Mysterian Social Workers Party, he was a very influential and respected spokesman-he brought in thousands of people to support the party…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows, "So he was a Socialist?"

Chiya nodded, "He was very strict on politics, he was in heavy opposition to the Galactic Federation-he taught me to hate them and become a proud socialist daughter," she then brushed her hair and shrugged, "But I have no idea what a socialist even is to be honest…"

Seppuku snapped his fingers, "Far-left, kind of like Brock Blaskovitz."

"My dad was very important to the party, they had many more members like him-but my dad was so influential in his rallies and speeches, he even considered starting a coup in the military once." Chiya quirked her mouth and sat back more calmly, Earl continued to wipe any tears that shed from her eyes, "I hated whenever he would talk about politics, he always talked about how the Federation wanted to take our rights away; but as a man I loved him so much…"

Jody rubbed her chin, "So what you're saying, is that your father was one of the main contributors to the Social Party?"

"Not planet-wide, but in the region of Mysteria we lived in, yes." Chiya then lowered her eyes and shrugged, "Me and my dad both loved each other, my mom was the one who had more of an interest in Abby-my dad was always interested in me, believing that I was more of a tomboy who liked mechanics." Earl grinned at her and nodded affirmatively, "He wasn't easy on me though, he gave me some pretty tough chores around the house-at age nine he had me working on maintaining the family vehicle." She then closed her eyes and shed another tear with a faint smile, "But it helped me understand that life would be difficult…"

Chiya then placed her hand over her cheek and leaned over sadly, "By the time of graduation, he knew that I would be the one who finally brought the Flower name out of the lower class, believing that I would find the perfect man to marry, have the perfect child, the perfect job, perfect house…" She then glanced over at Earl for a moment, "I now realize that I don't need _most_ of those things, but he truly believed that I was destined for fortune-except her was fairly strict on the guys I wanted to date; he only wanted me to date successful men without addictions."

"Alcoholic, Bendek's out," Seppuku joked.

Chiya finally lowered her eyebrows and sat up straight, "I felt you all needed to know about my dad, to better understand what went wrong…" she then let out a long sigh and put her legs together, "We were out in town that day, shopping, we were having a great time as a family-I recall we were discussing where I would go to university at, since I had just graduated that year." She then widened her eyes and swallowed, "As we left the store, the entire city became shadowed by a massive ship…"

Seppuku quirked his mouth slowly and dipped his head down, Chiya stretched her hands out in the air, "This ship was huge, and everyone in town was instantly sent silent in shock, we just assumed that it was a new super weapon made for the military."

"Day of Falling Mist," answered Jody.

Chiya quickly nodded, "Me and Abby were standing next to each other with pretty amazed looks, she was smiling excitedly at first-finding this amazing, but I wasn't excited, somehow, I knew something was wrong…" She held her forehead with both hands and tightly closed her eyes, "I- I looked at my parents, my dad was whispering something to my mom, an image that is now burnt into my skull, because at that very moment-Hell opened up."

Chiya then gritted her teeth and began to shake constantly, beginning to reenter her state of post-trauma. Earl widened his eyes and grabbed Chiya quickly, rubbing her back as she then opened her eyes again, "Bombs, missiles, bullets, lasers, everything was coming from that ship in the thousands! Buildings collapsed, families were obliterated, the sky was red, and the air was filled with fog and smoke…" She then widened her eyes and began to hyperventilate, "A- Abby started to cry, I didn't know what to do, we both saw a man and woman get blown right out of their shoes! No blood at all, they were just pulverized!"

"Sweet!" Lily said with a grin.

"_The Federation is here! The warmongers are here to smite us,_ my dad shouted, he wouldn't stop shouting about the Federation as he grabbed my mom." She then rubbed the top of her head and tried breathing in, "I just held on to Abby with my life, she was crying, and I was stunned-I knew we were all good as dead! But we ran none-the-less…"

Chiya then grunted, "We had sent aircraft to try and stop the massive ship, but the ship tore the aircraft to shreds like flies! No one could save us, and the city I grew up in was instantly being turned to rubble…" Chiya grabbed Earl's hand and breathed in, "I literally saw the school I had just graduated at get blown out of existence, whoever this spawn of Satan was-they were winning…"

Earl turned his head at Seppuku and raised an eyebrow, "Seppuku, you said you were on Mysteria that day, where were you?"

Seppuku quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "I saw this all happen with my own eyes, I was there, but I can't tell you where I was."

Earl then looked up at Jody for help, she simply shrugged at him, "The Lieutenant wasn't in the Federation yet, he joined about a month later."

Chiya sighed and dipped her head down, "So anyways, we ran, fast, I was holding onto Abby so tightly, so scared of what might happen…"

"Running where?" asked Jody.

"Back to our car, we lived just a bit out in the country." Chiya quirked her mouth and lowered her eyebrows, "We ran towards the car as everything we once loved was tragically brought into flames, but then cruel fate hit us…" Chiya tightly closed her eyes and began to tear up again, "A bomb had landed right between me and my parents-and I was holding Abby, he was holding mom." She then began to whimper again, "I stood up with Abby and exhaled in relief, the car was undamaged, and my mom was getting up-but then Abby gasped loudly; the shock of the explosion had completely destroyed my dad's legs and blew out his eyes…"

Jody and Earl both gasped with an appalled look, Lily still had a smirk on her face, Seppuku just had a look of intrigue. "Abby let go of me and ran up screaming stuff like, _dad_ and _daddy_ constantly-I was too stunned at what I was looking at, and I couldn't gather the strength to approach him, I didn't want to see this bloody mess…"

"Th- that's just…" Earl widened his eyes and whistled, "Traumatizing…"

Chiya held her face and shook negatively, "Oh trust me, the worst has yet to come…" Earl then widened his eyes at her, "I couldn't do it, I approached him, but I couldn't look at him-I just couldn't. Mom and Abby immediately lifted him up into the car, my mom just furiously demanded that I drive-and so I did."

"Earl grunted and began to shake his head in disbelief, "My God Chiya…"

"I didn't hesitate, I began driving off before they even had the doors closed, to Hell with the speed limit, I gunned it right back to our house."

"Wait, how didn't your mother take damage?" asked Jody.

"She suffered minor burns, we assumed that dad's body protected her from the blast." Chiya clenched her fist and put it up against her chin, "We eventually made it back home, we tossed dad right up on the dining table and began to heal his enormous wounds, and mom did succeed in patching his legs and burns up."

Earl raised an eyebrow, "Wha- well how did he die then?"

Chiya slowly face palmed and let a tear run down her cheek, "Well, we soon discovered that he was in a vegetable state…"

Earl and Jody both grunted and got sad looks, Chiya lowered her eyelids and nodded, "Abby was old enough to understand what was happening, but she was still too young to discuss what to do, it was up to me and my mom…" Chiya then shut her eyes tightly, "We assumed we were being invaded, what were we going to do, drive back to the hospital? That was turned to rubble!"

Chiya clenched her fist and began to whimper loudly, "S- so, we were prepared to do what we felt was right, my mom grabbed a rifle out of our hunting cabinet and came back in the kitchen; I had told Abby to wait in her room, but to this day I'm pretty sure she was secretly watching from the living room…"

Earl slowly widened his eyes in disbelief, Chiya then dipped her head down and continued dripping tears, "My mom silently aimed the rifle at my dad's head, preparing to set him free, but she couldn't do it in the end-she couldn't bring herself to shoot such a great person who didn't deserve this fate…" Chiya then hid her face behind both of her hands as she began to cry more loudly, "My mom began to cry, and the next thing she knew-he was dead; I killed him myself."

Earl widened his eyes and put his hand on her arm, "I see, I think I understand now…"

"My mom was distraught at what I had done, that was when I started crying, I dropped the hunting rifle on the floor and leaned over the table full of tears, it was the last time I had ever cried…"

Earl grinded his teeth and slammed his fist down on her leg softly, "You're not telling me that you were charged for _that_? Are you?"

Chiya nodded her head, "The following day, it turned out that our city was the only one struck, an official from the Social Workers Party came to discuss something with my dad-we hadn't buried him yet, rather we had him wrapped up." She then rubbed her forehead and quirked, "We told him that he had died in the attack-but somehow he managed to catch a glimpse of dad's body-he knew that he was shot…" She then swallowed and crossed her arms together, "He threatened that he was going to call on an investigation, believing this to be a bloody murder!"

"Even though his legs were clearly blown to shreds?" asked Earl.

Chiya nodded, "Didn't matter, he saw the bullet hole, so he had someone to blame." She slowly glanced over at Earl with sad eyes, "The following day, Mysterian soldiers stormed our house and began their investigation, eventually finding a bullet in his skull-which matched the guns we had. The Social Workers Party blamed us, and filed a suit on us for murder, political assassination, party sabotage, unlawful radicalism, and assisted suicide," she quirked her mouth and sighed, "They would let the rest of my family go if one of us confessed to the crime, and I was the one who killed him-my mom was willing to take the blame, but Abby had confessed to the soldiers that I was the one who shot him-they intimidated her…"

"That same night, we buried dad, but my mom simply told me to pack my things-claiming that we had to act or suffer the consequences," Earl nodded at her as she spoke on, "I had several bags of things packed, but had no clue where we were going-or where _I_ was going…"

"Earth," Earl answered.

Chiya nodded, "I was suppose to go to trial for my crimes, but instead, my mom helped me get on an embassy transport-the only Mysterian ship that was allowed to leave the system." Chiya dipped her head down and sighed, "I'll never forget that, the next thing I knew, she hid me in a part of the ship with my bags, I was scared and felt so alone, my mom began to cry, told me never to come back, and that I had to honor my dad's wish-to bring fortune to the Flower name."

Earl shed a tear and nodded at her mouth constantly quivered, "I waved farewell to my mom, and to this day have never seen her again…"

Jody's mouth was now quivering sadly at this, she then nodded and put her hand on Chiya's shoulder, "That's all I wanted to know, Chiya…"

Chiya nodded and continued to silently cry, "I'm the first one of my family to live off of Mysteria-somewhere centuries ago, we had left Earth and settled in Mysteria-where the Flower name blossomed poorly to this day."

Earl grabbed Chiya's hand and lifted her up off the couch, she then grabbed her face and nodded, "I'm taking her back to her room, she needs a break…"

Chiya nodded as she dipped her head down, "That'd be nice…"

Seppuku nodded, "We're going to sleep here for the night."

Jody grunted and narrowed her eyes at him, "Uh, what? Excuse me?"

Seppuku nodded, "I'm not flying back to Earth this late at night, we'll head back early in the morning."

Jody narrowed her eyes and growled at him. Earl then walked Chiya back to her room.

Later that night, Chiya and Earl lay together in bed. Chiya was facing the other direction with her legs curled, now depressed about the reminiscing she had to do. Earl was rubbing on her arm, determined to be at her side through the hard feelings.

"I'm sorry I kept that a secret from you for so long…" she muttered sadly.

Earl smirked and silently chuckled, "You should've just told me that way back when I first learned about your bounty-I would've understood right from the start."

Chiya remained completely still, "I'm sorry, it's just such a touchy subject, it was emotionally difficult for me to do this…"

"You did great! And I'm proud of you for crying, it makes you look more human."

She shrugged at him, "Not gonna' start crying now, that was a one time thing."

Earl then put his chin over her shoulder and smiled at her, "Come on, we should watch a movie or so-"

"Hey! Playing video games over here!" Lily complained from the other bed with a handheld device.

Earl narrowed his eyes and sighed, "Oh yeah, except we have that girl over there…"

Seppuku was laying in his bed while staring at Jody, she was doing the exact same thing. Jody then narrowed her eyes and growled.

"Just go to bed already…"

Seppuku shook negatively, "Not until you do."

Jody then growled and crossed her arms, "I'm the guest here, and I don't feel safe with you awake."

Seppuku smirked at him, "I don't trust you either, you might cuff me while I sleep-but if I'm awake, you'd never be capable of arresting me."

Jody growled and crossed her arms together, "How do those two put up with you, stubborn man…"

Seppuku grinned, "Apparently by getting intimate with each other…"

Chiya was still laying in the exact same position as before, Earl was still desperately trying to lighten up her mood-but to no avail. He glanced over at Lily, who was still playing a game in the bed Earl had claimed, it was decided that she would sleep in this room. Earl momentarily lowered his eyebrows and rolled Chiya over onto her back, she gave him a very bland stare and slightly gritted her teeth. Earl grinned at her and held his knees as he sat.

"I really don't like seeing you this way Chiya."

She shrugged at him and frowned, "I'm sorry…"

Earl then looked down and reached into her bag, momentarily pulling out her glasses and sketchbook; he then placed the sketch book on her chest and placed the glasses on her face. She raised an eyebrow at him as he then looked down for a pencil as well.

"HB and a 3B," she requested.

Earl immediately lifted up two green pencils and handed them to her, she still had a very bland expression on her face. "I guess I can sketch out my feelings…

Earl then got up close to her with a smile, "I'll watch you."

She shook negatively at him quickly, "I don't like people watching me sketch."

Earl bit his lip and nodded, "Okay then," he then grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

Lily immediately lifted her head up, "Switch the channel over to Cartoon World."

Earl lowered his eyebrows in frustration, "No, cartoons are stupid-besides, anime is much better."

She stuck her tongue out at the drama show Earl had put on, "Reality drama? Bo-oring, I mean it's not even real, who would actually watch-"

"Can you just go watch TV in the living room or something?"

Lily shook negatively, "Make me."

Earl silently growled at her, "Jesus, you really are like Seppuku's daughter…"

Chiya flipped through a few pages in search of a blank page, but momentarily widened her eyes at the sight of something-there was writing on every page. She lowered her eyebrows and turned back to the very first page. _What the Heck?_ she thought as she discovered that each drawing now had a comment.

_A good drawing of a good looking guy!_ she read in her mind, the drawing was of Earl. She then flipped to the next page and nodded her head at the sketched cat, _Your fascination for cats is one of the many traits about you I love, your ability to draw cats is incredible and very artistically done, is this Mauser?_ She slightly smiled as she continued to read through several of the comments Earl had left in the book-this is what he was doing with her sketchbook the night after the White Land race. She glanced back at Earl slowly, who was simply watching TV. She then flipped to the next page, beginning to smile at everything she was seeing-he had critiqued every single one of her sketches in a positive way. Earl glanced back at Chiya and licked his lips with a nervous face, he was staring at a specific page of the book that was somewhat sticking out. He then got up and walked over to Lily.

"Kid, I need you to go in the living room for a bit, here's twenty credits."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him, but took the money none-the-less, she then began to laugh, "Geez man, if I was bugging you that much all you had to do is say so…"

Earl then got back on the bed with Chiya while beginning to tremble, he immediately spotted the page again and bit his lip nervously. Lily then loudly slammed the door behind her, alerting Chiya, she looked up with widened eyes and then looked at Earl.

"Gee, where's she going?"

"Living room."

Chiya nodded and looked back down at the book, Earl then lowered his eyebrows and crossed his arms together, now facing Chiya as he sat. Chiya continued to smile at some of the notes she was reading, Earl began to hum nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. Chiya lowered her eyebrows and glanced over at him for a moment.

"You okay?"

Earl swallowed and nodded, "Yeah, never better."

Chiya nodded and returned to her sketchbook, she then got to a page of a Seppuku drawing; _Why not just draw a guys genitalia while you're at it?_ Chiya began to laugh at the joke, referring to the fact that Seppuku is a jerk. Earl gave her an uneasy smile and nodded, she then turned the page again and found no critique-but was immediately faced with something different. She widened her eyes and felt her heart beat quickly at the sight of her drawing completely edited, it was the sketch of herself with her hand out in the air-only Earl had added something to the sketch. Earl smirked and glanced away from her, Chiya immediately gasped. He had drawn himself in the sketch, he was now holding the hand that Chiya had out in the air and was up close against her with his other hand around her head. The two were kissing.

Chiya held her mouth in disbelief and felt her heart drop within an instant, she then dropped her glasses and looked up at him.

"Earl…" she muttered with watery eyes.

Earl then dipped his head down and turned towards her slowly, "Hm?"

She held the sketch up to him and raised an eyebrow while smiling, "This is…" she then smiled more widely and shrugged, "Not necessarily what I was originally drawing…"

Earl closed his eyes and smirked, "Did I improve or ruin the sketch?"

Her eyes and mouth both began to quiver as she lowered the sketchbook, "Better, so much better."

Earl smirked and nodded as he laid back down with her again, though he got much closer this time, "That was just wrong of me what I did in that prison."

Chiya widened her eyes and shook negatively, "No, no, it's fine Earl, I wanted you to do that to me, I thoroughly enjoyed it when you touched my bre-"

She was then stopped in her track as Earl grabbed the back of her head, she immediately gritted her teeth slightly and stared at him. Chiya put her feet together as Earl then pulled her towards him, her mind was instantly being blown away-losing a sense of reality anywhere outside of the bed. Chiya was then completely blown back-it was over, nothing interrupted them this time. They locked lips together and proceeded to kiss each other. Neither Earl or Chiya made a single sound as they kissed, a tear instantly ran down Chiya's cheek as a dream was finally fulfilled for her.

Chiya tightly held his head as they continued to lock lips, it was a moment where every single issue in life had disappeared-no Black Shadow, no Seppuku, no conflict; all that went through her mind was happiness. Earl continued to move his hand over her hair constantly, as he was enjoying the moment just as much.

_Now I understand, I've been wrong and in denial this entire time…_ she thought calmly to herself. _I don't have a crush on Earl…_ she then opened her eyes slightly and began to rub the shaved beard he had.

_I'm in love with him…_

To be continued…


	41. Lap 40

==Lap 40=

Earl was now sleeping in his own bed back in Mute City, he was hoping they could finally stop traveling and just have a relaxing time at base until the race on Mysteria. Neither Jody or Seppuku ended up sleeping, as they were locked in a stare off most of the night, eventually leaving Seppuku defeated, as he had agreed to just fly back to Earth at night. They had landed at the Mute City spaceport and Jody had paid for the expenses of this, Lily and Jody departed and Seppuku then went to bed. Neither Chiya or Earl had woken up during this whole occurrence, before they knew it they were back in Red Canyon. Chiya and Earl had awoken together to find that Lily was gone, though Earl remained in bed with Chiya none-the-less, not much later returning to Mute City.

Earl grunted a few times as he tried sleeping, his forehead felt very moist for reasons beyond him. He licked his lips and grunted again, he then started to hear a spraying noise.

"Huh?" he faintly muttered, beginning to open his eyes.

The very first thing he could make out was what appeared to be Chiya sitting on his lap with a gleeful smile-but her hair was dark.

"D- Dark Rose!" Earl shouted, immediately grabbing her neck.

"No, no, no! It's me, Chiya!"

Earl held his fingers against her throat still, his fingers pushed in slightly, he then noticed the blue eyes, green stock hat, and purple shorts-it was Chiya. Earl exhaled and let go of Chiya, who was still sitting on him.

"Chiya, what are you doing?"

He then turned on his lamp and immediately gasped at her, he then covered his mouth with a look of shock, "Chiya…"

Chiya's hair was now blue. She began to giggle and slowly held up a spray bottle, "We made a deal, as I recall…"

Earl then widened his eyes and gasped, he then pulled down one of his bangs-it was blue. "Aw crap…" he muttered.

Chiya smiled and nodded, "You sleep just as heavily, you didn't wake up when I lifted your head forward."

"I was tired as Hell…"

Chiya then puckered her lips and chuckled, "I can imagine…"

Earl shook his head negatively and began to lay back down, Chiya quickly grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him back up towards her, "Come on, can't you just wake up now?"

Earl groaned and rubbed his forehead, "I'm seriously tired man, and now I have to cope with this blue hair…"

"It'll be fun and you know it."

Earl then rolled over and closed his eyes again, Chiya immediately narrowed her eyes at him and then grabbed his hand. She pulled him upward while growling, "You slept enough, it's time to start the day!"

Earl groaned and exhaled, "Yeah, well me and my lips are exhausted…"

Chiya grunted and blushed, she then smirked with a prideful look, "Damn right they are…"

Earl yawned and grabbed his pillow more tightly, "Bring me a beer and I'll get up…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and smirked, "Or, how about I bring you a glass of water, and you get up and let me do your hair."

Earl chuckled silently, "How about _you_ get me a glass of wine and I'll at least turn on the lamp."

"How about I get you a soda, and I won't smack you across the face."

Earl shrugged and pulled his blanket back up, Chiya then growled and walked up to his lamp, turning it on anyways. Earl groaned and pulled his arm out of his blanket.

"Turn off the damn light Chiya…"

He then swatted his hand towards the table without looking with the intentions of turning the lamp back off-but his hand made contact with something else. Chiya immediately gasped and grabbed her rear, immediately bouncing away from the bed with a shocked look. Earl widened his eyes at that moment and gasped, having slapped Chiya's rear.

"Woah! Okay, okay, I'm getting up Chiya, see?" he spat out desperately.

Chiya glared at him with somewhat of a flustered smile, "Did you just smack my butt!?"

Earl gritted his teeth and flailed his hands negatively, "I- it was an accident!"

Chiya then smirked and walked behind him, "I understand…" Earl lowered his eyebrows-but was then very roughly slapped on the rear by her.

"Ye-eowch! What the Hell!" he yelled leaping away.

Chiya puckered her lips playfully, "There, now we're even."

Earl gritted his teeth and rubbed his rear, "I just slightly hit your rear, you just cracked your hand at me!'

Chiya smiled and wiggled her fingers around, "Well next time you should be careful, you'll find that I'm a very vengeful-"

Earl then slapped her roughly on the rear again, sending Chiya letting out a slight shout of agony. Earl then smirked and crossed his arms together, "Okay, no more, now it's fair."

Chiya rubbed her rear and narrowed her eyes at him, "Oh, it's on now…"

Earl widened his eyes for a moment but then narrowed his eyes as well, "Very well…"

The two then entered a Seoli Idong position and prepared for combat, Chiya had a determined look on her face. Earl had a solid stare as they prepared to enter combat with each other.

Mere seconds later, Seppuku opened Earl's door-surprisingly, Lily was walking alongside him. He was looking down at her as he entered the room, "Then I snuck up behind the couch and scared the crap out of Ch-"

Seppuku and Lily then jolted their heads up in shock at what they were looking at. Earl was holding Chiya down on his knee as he repeatedly spanked her rear, she was kicking her legs back and forth as he did so.

"Okay, okay, let me go, let me go! You win, you win okay? Just let me go and you win!" she begged as she was being spanked.

Seppuku and Lily simply stood with shocked looks, Seppuku then sighed and face palmed, "Behold, my glorious organization at its prime…"

Earl halted his hand in midair and widened his eyes, Chiya then gasped and looked over at the two. Earl then began to turn red and lowered his eyebrows, "Oh uh…"

Lily smirked, "What the Heck is this now?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows as well, "I wouldn't get Earl a beer, so now he's spanking me."

Seppuku and Lily then lowered their eyebrows, Seppuku momentarily sighed, "Anyways…" Earl momentarily let go of Chiya and stood up, it was then that Seppuku caught something he had somehow missed. He began to laugh loudly while pointing at the two, "Oh my God, you actually did it!"

Earl raised an eyebrow, "Did what?"

Lily smirked as well, "Boy, that's just weird…"

"You idiots actually dyed your hair! That's amazing, I wasn't even being serious before!"

Earl stomped his foot down, "What!?"

Seppuku nodded, "I had honestly forgotten about the bet until now, I can't believe you two actually did it!"

Earl then face palmed and sighed, Chiya began to laugh with Seppuku, "Now we look like a pair of goofballs!"

Earl crossed his arms and looked at Lily, "What's she doing here?"

Lily stuck her tongue out at Earl, "Calm down grandpa…"

"Grandpa? I'm in my twenties!"

Lily then walked between Earl and Chiya and went straight to his bed, she leapt up and picked up the gaming controller that was under the TV, "This systems outdated."

Earl shrugged, "I'm not really a gamer, sorry."

Lily didn't respond, she simply began to play whatever was in the console-in this case, the F-Zero game. Seppuku then crossed his arms and smirked, "Lily's leaving Japan in a bit, just thought I'd have her over before she left."

Chiya puckered her lips at the guns Lily had clipped to her pants-they were fairly small but had fairly large magazines. "Why can't I have that kind of gun? It looks small enough to conceal," she complained.

Seppuku rubbed his chin and hummed curiously, "I don't think you could handle an SMG."

Chiya grunted and flailed her hands up in the air angrily, "Why not? That fourteen year old girl can!"

"Fourteen and a half!" Lily pointed out with her finger in the air.

Seppuku nodded, then looked over Earl's shoulder at Lily, "How bout' it Lily, wanna' try teaching Chiya how to fire an SMG?"

Lily smirked and turned off the gaming console, giving Chiya a thumbs up momentarily, "Sure bro, but not my guns."

Seppuku nodded, "We have a whole arsenal of collected weapons."

Lily grinned and walked up to the three, "Lead the way!"

A little bit later, the four stood down in the shooting range part of the base, Chiya hadn't been down here for a long time on the account that the gang war was over, thus eliminating the need to train. Chiya was holding an SMG they had looted off of a Red Star member during the final fight for Mute City-as Red Star had been firefighting with Earl and Seppuku in the base. Chiya puckered her lips as she looked over the fairly small weapon, it was a bit bigger than her usual handgun. Earl raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Seppuku.

"This isn't going to endanger her, is it?"

Seppuku merely chuckled at him in response, he then pointed at Lily, signaling for her to start teaching. Lily smirked and put her hand on Chiya's shoulder.

"Alright, the big difference between that and a pistol, is that you can't jus-"

Chiya then began firing the SMG out towards the targets-though she was completely failing to hold it straight, the recoil of the gun sending her firing everywhere she looked.

"Oh geez!" she shouted.

Everyone was ducking with their ears plugged, Earl opened an eye at Chiya as she continued firing aimlessly at the ground and ceiling, "Ey' Chiya! Take your finger off the trigger already!"

Chiya then stopped firing and began to pant, she lowered the gun and gritted her teeth, "H- how do you control this thing!?"

Lily crossed her arms together and smirked, "You can't just fire it off like that, this is an automatic piece of weaponry-your body is gonna' jump with the shots."

Chiya nodded and grabbed the SMG with both hands, she then closed an eye and stuck her tongue out as she took steady aim. Lily then grabbed Chiya's hand and shook negatively, "No, no, no, ya' still gotta' look cool while shooting."

Seppuku nodded affirmatively, "That's right."

Earl narrowed his eyes and shook negatively, "No, you should do it the safe way."

Lily chuckled at Earl, "What's gonna' happen? Shoot her fingers off?"

Earl glared at her, "Yes, actually, she could!"

Chiya took aim with one hand, putting the sight of the gun right up to her eye. Lily was whispering something to Seppuku as she took aim, Earl then looked over at Chiya and widened his eyes; she had the gun up to close to her face.

"Chiya don- !"

Chiya then fired the gun but was immediately sent back to the floor as the recoil knocked the gun straight at her face. She dropped the SMG and began to rub her eye while on the floor. Earl gasped and immediately got down by her.

"Chiya!"

"Ou-uch…" she groaned faintly.

Lily and Seppuku glanced at each other nervously, Lily then rubbed the back of her head, "Ye-eah, so it's a bit late to tell you, but you should never literally put the gun up to your face…"

Earl helped Chiya off the ground as she held her face with a look of agony, Earl glared at the two and stomped his foot down, "Screw you guys!" he yelled as he walked Chiya out the door.

Lily smirked at Seppuku and shrugged, "You got some real no-brainers in this place."

Seppuku chuckled, "Well Bendek was fine, but Flower makes him go stupid, and Flower is a fairly stupid person."

Lily chuckled as she looked down at the SMG, "I can see that."

Chiya continued to groan as she held her face, Earl was holding her with a concerned look, he had his hand around her face as well. Chiya shut her eyes more tightly and dipped her head down.

"Ou-uch…" she muttered.

"Just listen to me from now on, Seppuku's just trying to kill you-crazy bastard…" She quickly nodded her head at him, Earl then rubbed the tips of his fingers on her cheek, "Naturally, that's gonna' hurt for a bit, you basically just got beat square in the face by pure metal."

Chiya nodded again, then sniffled a few times. Earl simply growled at the thought of Seppuku, "Him and that damn girl, she can just get the Hell out."

Earl then widened his eyes as he felt his finger begin to get very wet, he knew it was the finger under her nose. He cringed and nodded, momentarily exhaling-not wanting to offend Chiya by informing her that she was getting snot on his finger. Despite how sickened he was, he glanced over at his hand-but was caught off guard at something else.

"Oh God, your nose is bleeding!"

Chiya widened her eyes and looked down, "Wha- Oh God!" she spat out as she looked at his finger.

Earl wrapped his finger around her nostrils and gritted his teeth, "It's fine, we'll just get you cleane-"

Chiya slapped his hand away from her, "Stop it, I don't want you getting infected or something!"

Earl nodded, but he already had Chiya's blood all over his two fingers. He disregarded this and put his hand down, "Put your hand down Chiya."

She slowly nodded and moved her hand away from her face simply to her nose, Earl then widened his eyes and dipped his head uncomfortably, "Oh! Oh geez…"

Chiya glanced her eyes over at him, her right cheek was already swollen and somewhat darkened, "What?"

Earl grunted and tugged on his collar, "Okay, okay, all that matters, is that I still think you're pretty…"

Chiya then widened her eyes, "What!? What's wrong with my face?"

Earl opened the bathroom door and guided her inside, "O-oh, it's not that noticeable, you just kind of got a slight shiner right now…"

Chiya immediately threw herself at the sink and gasped at the mirror, "Oh God! I'm hideous!"

Earl quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "Calm down, in this day and age we have technology to heal stuff," he snapped his fingers, "Just like that."

Blood then began to run down one of Chiya's nostrils, quickly dripping into the sink. She then gasped and grabbed a bunch of toilet paper, immediately covering her nose. She then flailed her hand back at Earl.

"Just go away, you shouldn't see me like this…"

Earl chuckled and crossed his arms, "I've had to cut you open before to get bullets outta' you, this is nothing."

She then lowered her eyebrows and looked at him, "Ew, did you see my organs and stuff?"

Earl nodded, "You had a heart of gold," he then rubbed his head, "Well, actually, it was more red and bumpy looking than gold, but you get the picture."

Chiya shivered and shrugged as she looked back at the mirror, "That must be horrifying…"

"I had to cut open Seppuku a few times before too, but not since you first came here."

Chiya put down the toilet seat and sat down while holding the toilet paper up to her nose, "That's great Earl…"

Earl turned the sink on and began washing away the blood Chiya had dripped, he smirked as he did this and momentarily began to chuckle. Chiya turned her head towards him and raised an eyebrow. Earl then smirked again and looked over at her, "I'd hope that you would be here for me, if I ever get in a similar situation."

Chiya shook negatively, "I'll walk with you, but no way in Hell am I getting your blood on my hands."

Earl then moved his right hand up and blinked a few times, forgetting that her blood was all over his hand, "Oh yeah." He then began to wash the blood off of his hand with a casual look.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at him, "How does that not freak you out?"

Earl smirked again and shrugged at her, "Because it's your blood."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows again, trying to make sense of what he was implying. She then tilted her head up in the air as she held the toilet paper against her nose.

Many minutes later, Chiya and Earl parked in the back of Bart's café, Chiya had managed to get her nose to stop bleeding-but she was now faced with a beat up looking face. Earl walked to the other side of the vehicle and opened the door for her, he then smiled at her as she got out with a look of pride.

"Why, thank you kind sir," she joked.

Earl chuckled as he began walking towards the door with her, "Not a problem Heiress Beckins," he joked back, referring to the false identity she had been using on Magica.

The two chuckled as they approached the entrance, Earl held the door for her with a happy smile on his face, Chiya then walked in still with a look of pride. Chiya stopped as soon as Earl entered with her, she gasped and took a step back towards the exit-bumping into Earl. Earl then raised an eyebrow and looked around the counter for Bart, but he only saw one person in the immediate area. Chiya took another step back as Jason Knox turned his head towards the door, Chiya immediately glanced away from him and lowered her eyebrows.

"Chiya Flower," he greeted.

Chiya turned around and wrapped her arm around Earl's, "Come on, let's just go."

Earl jerked his arm out of her grasp and growled, "Nah, let's stay a bit."

Chiya gasped as Earl then approached the counter with his eyes narrowed, he immediately sat down right next to Jason with a stern look-not actually looking at Jason. Chiya hesitantly and quietly moved towards the other seat, immediately dipping her head down while playing with her fingers. Earl moved his eyes towards Jason and got an angry look on his face.

"What's up, buddy?"

Jason continued to look at the two with an equally provoked look on his face, "Your hair, what are you gay?"

Earl smirked, "Homosexual joke, how very mature of you."

Jason shrugged at him, "Just telling it like it is…"

Chiya tugged on Earl's sleeve, "Seriously, let's just go…" she pleaded.

Earl ignored her plea and looked back at Jason, "How many girls you've been with since Chiya escaped?"

Jason began to chuckle at the term, _escaped_, "A few, all of which weren't as stupid as her though."

Chiya gasped and dipped her head down sadly, Earl narrowed his eyes at Jason angrily, "What made them so much better? Chiya was trying really hard to appease you…"

Jason smirked, "Sex."

Earl got a sarcastic look of excitement on his face and clapped, "Oh! Of course! Chiya didn't allow you the pleasure, so she's an idiot."

Jason crossed his arms together, "She's an idiot for not getting the message, you can't tie someone as cool as me down forever, I live for the moment, live to party-to go wild." He then looked at Chiya and grinned, "She giggled so much at everything I said, I must've misread what she wanted, she wanted a real relationship full of love and crap like that, I figured she just wanted to be taken around the world-if you catch my drift."

Earl shook negatively, "Karma is gonna' bit your ass one of these days, and I'll be sure to laugh."

Chiya nodded and gave him a thumbs up, "Me too!"

Jason lowered his eyebrows at Chiya, "What the Hell, did this guy beat you or something?"

Chiya shook negatively, "Uh, no, ya' see, after Earl got done spanking me, this girl came in wit-"

Jason twitched at her a few times, "Huh?"

At that moment Bart had walked in whistling, he came around the counter and immediately widened his eyes at the sight of the three together, "Oh boy…" he muttered.

Jason looked at Bart and slammed his fist down, "Lemming, these two are harassing me."

Chiya and Earl both glared at him, Earl then gritted his teeth and slammed his fist down as well, "Oh yeah! And you're just sitting here being all innocent, huh?"

Chiya nodded, "Yeah! He's calling me an idiot for not having relations with him!"

Jason swished his hand at her, "I don't care how much you want me girl, I don't do that kinda' stuff."

"Liar!" Both Chiya and Earl shouted.

Bart growled and shook negatively, "Quiet, all three of y-" he then grunted and raised an eyebrow, "Uh, why exactly, do you two have blue hair?"

Earl slammed his head down on the counter, Chiya began to laugh. Bart then quirked his mouth and nodded, "No more arguing or I'll kick all three of you out, this is a family establishment."

Earl slowly looked up at him, "Who else is ever here but us?"

Bart ignored the comment and smirked, "The upcoming Mysteria race, thoughts?"

Chiya widened her eyes and sighed, Earl momentarily grabbed her hand, "It'll be hard for Chiya, after all she went through on that planet…"

Jason smirked and tapped his fingers down, "Bringing my girlfriend with me to Mysteria actually-"

"Where you'll steal her virginity like the dark hearted bastard you are?" asked Earl.

About a minute later, Earl and Chiya were driving around Mute City again. Chiya had a shocked look on his face and was somewhat trembling.

"Gosh, I never heard Bart yell like that before…" she muttered aloud.

Earl shook negatively, "When he wants you out of the café, he gets serious."

Chiya crossed her arms together and sighed, "The sad part of it all, is that you're right, he's just ruing other girls lives and there is little we can do about it."

Earl nodded, but moments later got a bright look on his face, "Unless…" Chiya puckered her lips and looked at him with intrigue, "You were to win the Grand Prix, in which case you get that big interview with Mr. Zero."

Chiya raised an eyebrow, "And?"

Earl got a devious grin on his face as he drove, "It's the most watched post-game show of the season, literally billions of people will tune in…" Earl then began to chuckle, "Sure would be a shame for Jason if you were to accidentally speak out loud about him on air, for billions to hear."

Chiya then beamed at him and began to chuckle, "Oh my God, he'd be done for!"

Earl shrugged, "No one would dare sleep with that guy, everyone in the universe would know where _that's_ been."

Chiya crossed her arms together as she continued having dark thoughts about how she could terrorize Jason's life. Earl smirked at her and continued to drive, simply looking for a place that may be interesting for the two.

A bit later, the two went walking together down a mall, Chiya had her mouth puckered as she looked at the gallery of clothing that surrounded them. She had her arm wrapped around Earl as they walked, there was no longer any discomfort between the two-both were perfectly content doing this with each other.

"So I can have anything I like?"

Earl nodded, "Whatever suits you, I can pay for it."

Chiya rubbed the back of her head with a look of guilt, "I- I'll pay you back whenever I can…"

Earl chuckled and swished his hand at her, "You've done plenty for me, this is the least I-"

"What's wrong with your hair?" a woman asked out of nowhere.

Earl dipped his head down and sighed, Chiya began to laugh and shook her head, "I can tell that this is going to be a fun few days…"

She then brought Earl to the underwear section, he immediately dipped his head down and narrowed his eyes with a look of discomfort, "Why do you always bring me here?"

She began looking at a few panties and shrugged, "I'm looking for undergarments, I assumed a guy would love this."

He then gritted his teeth and spotted a massive pair intended for an obese woman, "Ye-eah, not quite for me…"

Chiya then held up a pair of red panties and puckered her lips, momentarily holding it up to his face, "Would I look good in these?"

Earl immediately widened his eyes and got a perverse grin, "I- I wouldn't know- when would I ever see you without your clothing?"

Chiya lowered her eyelids and turned away from him, "Dunno', maybe if Seppuku buzzes off for a day we can just run around the base in our underwear."

Earl began to laugh, "Oh, what a thought…"

She then got a quivering smile and briefly held a thong up to him, he immediately widened his eyes and rubbed his forehead, "Okay, now you're implying something…"

Chiya began to laugh and put the thong back, "I'm just kidding…"

Earl smiled and crossed his arms, she then dipped her head down and glanced back at him slowly, "What do you want me to wear?"

"Nothing."

Chiya gasped and practically jumped, "What!?"

Earl grunted and began to blush, "I- I- I meant nothing new! I like your usual attire!"

Chiya smirked and shook her head negatively, "I was gonna' say, no one would ever wanna' see that."

Earl shrugged, "Well, I think a lot of guys have made it clear that they do-Jason, rapists, inmates-"

"Well sure, for relations, but who'd wanna' actually see me walking around in the nude?"

Earl smirked and turned away, "I guess your husband would…"

Chiya gritted her teeth and swallowed, "Oh…" She then rubbed the back of her head and smirked, "So-o, what would you do if I suddenly came out of the bathroom in my towel, accidentally dro-"

At that moment Chiya's nose began to bleed again, Earl gasped and grabbed her face again, "Alright then, to the bathroom."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "Oh, this is just great…"

Meanwhile off in space, Black Shadow's ship roamed the unexplored regions of space. Blood Falcon, Brock Blaskovitz, and Dark Rose were all at a dining table together. Rose was looking down at her plate of meat sadly, she had her hand on her cheek as she poked at it a few times with her knife. Her eyes quivered sadly as she looked down at her fingers, she made a soft grunt and quirked her mouth. Brock momentarily glanced up at her while eating his meat and lowered his eyebrows.

"What is wrong Dark Rose?"

She sighed and remained motionless as she gazed at the sizzling slab of meat, Blood Falcon momentarily looked at her as well, "Are you still pissed off that you couldn't hit any of the targets in practice?"

Rose shook her head negatively, "No, it's not that…"

Brock then narrowed his one eye at her, "You are showing emotions again, you know what Black Shadow will do if he discovers you doing this…"

Rose then widened her eyes and nodded, "Yes, I certainly don't want another punishment," she grabbed the glass of milk next to her plate and took a quick gulp from it, she then set it down and glanced at Blood Falcon, "But I have been feeling a little weak lately…"

Blood Falcon crossed his arms together, "Weak? So we hit the gym, so what."

"N- no, I feel somewhat, sad…"

Brock slammed his fist down on the table, "That is a human trait, and you are no longer a human!"

Rose frowned and dipped her head down, "I- I just…" she then swallowed nervously and grunted, "I kind of miss my cat Mauser, the freedom of walking around with Earl, the fun of driving an F-Zero machine…"

Brock then glared at her and grinded his teeth angrily, Rose then dipped her head down sadly, "Then you two found me the great day I got my F-Zero license, knocked me out, tortured me-and finally freed me from Chiya's blood…"

Brock crossed his arms at her, "Do you wish to die then?" Rose slightly gasped and looked up at him, "Do you wish, you remained in Chiya's body?"

Rose grunted and dipped her head down, "N- no, I'm free now…" She then closed her eyes and smirked, putting the tip of her knife above the meat, "I dream of the day, where I can cut the throat of Chiya…" she said as she violently dug the knife into the meat, instantly splitting it in half.

Brock smirked at her and nodded, Rose now had a smirk as she cut the meat up, "But that isn't enough, Chiya, Earl, Seppuku, Mom, Abby-they all have to die…"

She picked a piece of meat up with her fingers and threw it in her mouth, "It'll be hard for me, but it has to happen…" She then closed her eyes, "The moment where I watch Earl's life fade away at my hands will be traumatizing, my fingers pushing down on his throat as he desperately pleads for air-clawing for life, eventually losing his grasp on reality, he will die…"

Blood Falcon slowly chuckled as he ate his meat, Rose then chuckled as well, "My mom likely misses me, and will be overjoyed to see me again-but what will her reaction be when the first thing I do, is killing her?"

"Truly evil," Brock happily answered.

"Abby, poor Abby, none of this may have happened if it weren't for her-she was just scared and squealed about me killing my father; but I forgave her, but I'll still have to kill her too…" Blood Falcon nodded his head in approval, "Once they're all dead, I'll escape from Black Shadow and assume the role of Chiya Flower, I will race in her place, and live the life that should rightfully belong to me."

Brock nodded at her, "Do you have a plan on how to further your goals?"

Rose nodded, "Black Shadow won't let me kill Mom and Abby, claims it's pointless, so Earl's my next target…"

She then frowned and dropped her knife, looking down at her cut meat sadly, "I uh, I'll miss him-but as I said…"

She then lowered her eyelids and sighed, "He has to die…"

To be continued…


	42. Lap 41

==Lap 41=

"We here at F-Zero TV, would like to congratulate the winner of this years annual Grand Prix!" Mr. Zero shouted live.

Chiya stood still with a smirk of pride, holding a massive golden trophy in her arms as she stood next to him. Mr. Zero launched the microphone up to her face with an excited look.

"Chiya Flower! You have won the Grand Prix and are now a billionaire! This must be very shocking and exciting for you!"

Chiya chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I guess, it's not really surprising to me that I won though-I'm the fastest racer on the track after all…"

Mr. Zero nodded affirmatively, "No doubt in anyone's mind that you are the fastest and best F-Zero racer on the circuit at the moment."

Chiya chuckled and gave him a thumbs up, "It's what I do."

Mr. Zero put his feet together and nodded, "So I understand that you're the Queen of Kitties?"

Chiya nodded, "That's right, all cats in the universe look up to me as their queen, ginger, tabby, black, calico, they are all loyal servants of my Flower dynasty."

"What about the dogs?"

Chiya smirked, "All relocated to Sand Ocean, they are the natural enemies of the cat and I won't have them attacking my kitty empire."

Mr. Zero bowed to her, "What will you do with the prize money?"

Chiya smiled, "I'm going to open up the _Chiya Flower Super Fun Land _for kids, no parents are allowed though."

Mr. Zero nodded, "Well Chiya, you seem to have a bright futu-"

"October twenty-five, two-thousand-two hundred-twenty-four…" Seppuku's loud voice boomed throughout the set.

Chiya raised an eyebrow and began to scan the room in confusion, "Seppuku?"

"Dear diary, Bart's Halloween Party is tomorrow, I'm gonna' go as a sexy cat, I already got the costume-I hope Earl likes it, but he doesn't like me showing cleavage in public, so I'm not so sure about that…" said Seppuku.

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, then looked at Mr. Zero, "Wh- where is he speaking from!?"

Mr. Zero put the microphone up to her face, "Will the sexy cat costume feature a tail?"

Chiya grunted and lowered her eyebrows. "November third, two-thousand-two hundred-twenty-four; dear diary…"

Chiya gasped and grabbed her forehead, "What? N- no!"

"Me and Earl were making fun of Seppuku behind his back again, no offense to him, but he needs to really clean his coat more often; it smells bad…" Seppuku's voice then growled, "Flower, you son of a-"

Chiya began to shake her head constantly, "S- stop! What's going on!?" she demanded as she dropped her trophy on the ground.

"Dear diary, I accidentally spilt coffee all over Earl's white shirts yesterday, so today he had a sweater on; I feel bad for what I did, but oh my gosh was he cute in that sweater," Chiya began to stomp her foot down constantly in rage, "Not that I like Earl or anything, I'm just saying, he was really cute in it, to the point where I would kiss him if he offered it again, I don't get why he doesn't try kissing me again like he did months ago, not that I care, but you know, whatever…"

Chiya then tightly shut her eyes and began to shake constantly, "Stop it! Stop it! Be quiet Seppuku!"

"Dear diary, it happened again, I had that awesome dream where Earl and me went walking down a field of flowers together on a bright sunny day, the temperature was very content, but more importantly, his lips were begging for me…"

Chiya then grunted a few times and could see complete darkness, she now realized that she had only been dreaming. She exhaled in relief and smiled, keeping her eyes shut as she tried returning to sleep.

"He then knocked me down into the flowers and held me by the shoulders…" Chiya shot her eyes open with a look of horror and gasped, "He then tickled me while pulling my boots off, then proceeded to bite my foot and pull my socks off with his mouth…"

Chiya flailed her arms in the air wildly, "What the Hell!" she complained at Seppuku, who was sitting on her bed with a book in his hands.

Seppuku shushed her, "Hold on, it's getting good; I don't need to say the rest, it was the perfect ending as he then stripped me down and laid me down in the flowers, then proceeded to take me around the wo-or-or-orld…" Seppuku concluded while laughing loudly.

Chiya immediately jumped up at Seppuku and began clawing at him angrily, reaching out for the diary he was reading, "Give it back! That's mine!"

Seppuku chuckled at her playfully, "Aw come on, Bendek would love the part where he takes you _around the world_."

Chiya immediately blushed while glaring at him, "I- I didn't write that! You must've read it wrong!"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her, then raised the book up to his face, "-proceeded to take me around the world, says it right there Chiya."

She then roughly slapped Seppuku across the face, sending his head jerking back slightly. She grinded her teeth angrily at him as she stole the book out of his hands, but then began to rub on the hand she slapped him with, "O-ow!"

Seppuku chuckled and looked back at her, "You'll find that I have cheeks of steel."

Chiya cleared her throat and placed the book under her rear, she then put her fingers together and lowered her eyebrows, "Just out of curiosity, where _is_ Earl right now? Wanted to go somewhere wit-"

"He's not here."

Chiya frowned, "Ah."

"Got called to fix a downed truck somewhere out in the country."

Chiya nodded at him and glanced away from him, Seppuku then smirked as he stood back up, "Don't worry, Bendek will be back to take you around the world in a bit."

Chiya face palmed with both hands and let out a long sigh, "Please don't tell him about that dream…"

Excalibur was walking down a hallway in Black Shadow's ship, he was scanning the hallway left and right clearly in search of something. He had his hand grasped around his holster as he took quiet steps. There was complete silence in the ship no matter where he walked, the only sounds that could be heard was the humming of the ship's engine. Excalibur came to a dead end in the hallway and momentarily growled aloud, he stomped his foot down angrily and turned back around.

"This isn't paying off…" he muttered angrily.

He then began walking down the hallway again with his fists clenched tightly. He slowed down for a moment and pulled a device out of his jacket, momentarily pressing a few buttons. He then held the device up in the air after coming to a full stop, he began to wave it around in the air as he listened to a slight chirping noise it was making. He momentarily lowered the device and hummed in confusion.

"I know it's around here somewh-"

"Uh, oh, hello…" an English sounding voice greeted.

Excalibur jolted his head up and looked over his left shoulder, he was then confronted by Dark Rose who was quietly hiding behind her door. She momentarily revealed a faint smile as she lowered her eyebrows at him. Excalibur stared at the nervous looking woman and crossed his arms together.

"Yeah, hi."

Rose then bit her lip and got a sad look on her face, "I was wondering, might you wanna' come in my room? I don't uh…" she then rubbed the back of her head and sighed, "I don't have any friends…"

Excalibur continued to stare at her with a somewhat startled stance, he then slowly nodded his head at her, "Fine, at the least you may be able to help me out with something."

Rose then gasped with a cheery smile and nodded quickly, "Sure! Sure! Come in!"

Excalibur tilted his head in confusion, but momentarily began to move towards the door with his hand back on his holster. Rose began to tremble with a frightened look as he got closer, Excalibur hummed cautiously at her, he felt that a trap was inevitable. He momentarily stepped inside of the room and looked back at her immediately, she then closed the door quickly and revealed a gleeful smile.

"Oh my God, it's been so long since- uh, wanna' do something?"

Excalibur was unclear of what she wanted, but automatically assumed the dirtiest of the situation, "U-uh, as in?"

Rose dipped her head down and chuckled without any sign of emotion, "A game, talk, flirt, whatever you wanna' do…"

Excalibur grunted and took a step back, "What?"

He then tilted his head up and began observing the room he was in more closely, it was dark and practically empty. There was a lone bed pale colored bed in the corner with a pile of clothing on the ground-as she didn't even have a drawer in the room. Rose had an excited smile on her face and was bouncing off her toes slightly.

"So you're from Korea? Cool! I'm from Mysteria-sort of…"

Excalibur crossed his arms and nodded, "Why does a young woman like you not have anything in her room?"

Rose momentarily stopped bouncing and dipped her head down with a look of discontent, "Oh, Black Shadow won't let me have anything until I complete my mission, says free gifts create softies…"

"Your mission?"

She then got a maniacal smile as she clenched her fist in front of her, "Kill Chiya and Earl! Their blood splattered across the wall!"

"Why Earl?"

Rose lowered her eyebrows, "Well, I like him-but he's great friends with Chiya," she then growled and began to grind her teeth, "He was my best friend before I was taken outta' Chiya's blood; if I can't have him, she can't either!"

Excalibur sat on her bed and pressed down on the mattress, it was very weak and had low quality to it. Rose then leapt next to him and smiled again, "As much as I love talking about them, I wanted to talk about different stuff-non-stressful stuff."

Excalibur glanced at her and nodded, "Maybe later, but can you help me with something?"

Rose snapped her fingers and grinned, "Help me first."

She then got up and approached her pile of clothing, Excalibur stood back up and moved towards the door as he watched her. Rose looked back at him and giggled, "Turn around, I need to change."

Excalibur nodded and turned towards the door, he then pulled out the same device he had out moments ago and began to wave it around above him-slight chirping noises went off again as he did this. He then lowered it and looked at the screen again.

"Where the Hell is it?" he muttered aloud.

"Okay, ready."

He turned around slowly and immediately grunted-Dark Rose was now wearing a grey turtleneck, purple shorts, a green stock hat, and jackboots just like Chiya. She spun around quickly with a smile, she chuckled playfully as her hair whipped around her shoulder. Excalibur then put away the device and nodded.

"What's this now?"

Rose crossed her arms and chuckled, "My new plan, get Chiya out of the base, enter the base with an identical look, call Earl out on a romantic date, maybe have a little dirty time with him, then kill him!" she then widened her eyes, "I have blue contact lenses and blonde dye for the mission."

Excalibur rubbed the back of his neck, "Romantic date? Dirty time? Why not just kill him before he learns of your true identity?"

Rose chuckled, "Because, it'll crush Chiya's heart if I both kiss him, bang em', and then kill him," she bowed and chuckled maniacally, "To let her know that I took literally everything from her, and her knowing that I did stuff with him over her would likely depress her."

"Bendek's a smart card, he won't fall for it."

"I could read his eyes when I last spoke with him, he wants to do _everything_ with Chiya before I kill her-he was just playing me, won't he be surprised when we're naked in bed together, and the next thing he finds is my dagger going straight through his lungs?"

Excalibur chuckled slightly, "Whatever, I have to go now."

Rose frowned and grunted, "Wa- wait, don't you need my help on something?"

Excalibur stopped as he held the door opened and shook negatively, "Never mind, next time you can help me out, I really need to get back to Earth and start my next mission for Black Shadow."

Rose bit her finger and lowered her eyebrows, "Can't you just wait for me? I'm heading back there in a few hours too."

Excalibur shook negatively, "Sorry princess, I gotta' fly right now."

Rose sighed and dipped her head down, "Will you at least come back more often? I just want someone to talk to-other than those two idiots…"

Excalibur looked back at her and gave her a thumbs up, "You help me when I get back, and I'll be your _friend_."

Rose then smiled and nodded, "Well uh, bye then…"

Excalibur then shut her door and began walking back down the hallway. Rose's smile momentarily faded away, she then collapsed onto her bed and held her face with both hands-letting out a long and heavy sigh.

Chiya and Seppuku were working around the _Red Dove_ much later in the day, Seppuku was laying slightly under the machine while Chiya held up a metal panel. She looked down at him as he worked on something, all she was really doing was holding up the plate for him, as this was like a door. Seppuku grunted a few times as he jerked his hands around the machine constantly.

Chiya momentarily glanced away and smirked, "Maybe we should just wait for Earl to do this?"

"We don't need him."

Chiya rolled her eyes, "Just saying, this would go a lot faster with him-and I don't want you to break something in the Red Dove."

Seppuku then popped his head out of the machine with an angry look, "Oh I see how it is, okay then, you think you're the better mechanic?" Chiya widened her eyes and quickly shook negatively, "You want to try doing this?"

Chiya shook her free hand at him, "No, no, I'm not saying I'm a better mechanic, just that Earl will get it done quickly and efficiently."

Seppuku growled and momentarily slid under the machine again, Chiya let out a sigh and put her other hand on the plate-making sure that she wouldn't accidentally let go and hit Seppuku. Chiya then widened her eyes and puckered her lips as the door suddenly opened, she glanced over quickly and found Earl walking in with a casual look.

"Earl!" she yelped excitedly, instantly skipping towards him.

The plate instantly fell to the ground and fell right on Seppuku's chest, "Ga-ah!"

Chiya got right up to Earl but then turned around with a shocked look, "Oops…"

Seppuku angrily crawled out of the _Red Dove_ and grabbed the plate, furiously throwing it across the room. Chiya and Earl both widened their eyes as Seppuku began to enter a fury. Chiya took a step back towards Earl in fear of Seppuku, he then whipped his head at Chiya and grinded his teeth as he quickly approached her.

"It was one damn single task, one task, and you couldn't even do that much!"

"I'm sorry!" Chiya whaled.

Seppuku then clenched his fists and brought his fist up to Chiya's face, he then grunted constantly as his fist quaked in front of her constantly, "You- you're so lucky you're a girl Chiya, or you'd have a black eye right now."

Earl lowered his eyebrows, "Oh come on, it was my fault that she dropped it, my presence-"

"Oh, you're right."

Seppuku then violently crashed his fist down on Earl's head, Chiya gasped and grabbed Seppuku's arm. Earl immediately stepped away from him and gritted his teeth, he then glared at Seppuku, "Seriously man! Why are you so damn aggressive towards your friends?"

"Because you two are idiots."

Earl narrowed his eyes at Seppuku, "The only thing keeping me and Chiya from going to Vietnam together is because we like you, why would you jeopardize your own organization?"

Seppuku crossed his arms and laughed, "You two living together in Vietnam eh'? How's that gonna' work?"

Chiya lowered her eyes sadly, Earl rubbed his chin, "I'll just act as Chiya's personal mechanic after we buy a hous- eh- find a place to operate at." Chiya then crossed her hands over her heart and smiled.

Seppuku began to laugh as he shook his head negatively, "Oh, that's just rich…"

Chiya and Earl both got offended looks upon hearing his laughter, Earl then quirked his mouth and narrowed his eyes, "What's rich?"

Seppuku then poked Chiya's forehead, "You and her, living together happily on Vietnam, where she'll continue to race while you two slack off together and have your usual fun with each other."

Chiya growled and shook her fist at him, "It's not a stupid dream! It's a good dream!"

"But isn't it a bit, farfetched?"

"In what way?" asked Earl.

Seppuku exhaled and shook negatively, "By all means, do it, I don't care—but I don't think Chiya is much of a provider, neither are you," Earl then grunted and glanced at Chiya, she had a confused look on her face—not knowing what _provider_ meant, "You don't seem to realize just how great you have it here, we don't pay for property tax or any of that—because this is an illegal organization."

Chiya then dipped her head down, "Taxes and bills? So what, we can manage that much."

"Sure you could, you just gotta' find a full-time job that pays well; both of you."

Chiya gasped and immediately lowered her eyebrows, "Full-time job? When would I get to see Earl?"

Seppuku began to chuckle, "Whenever you both get home, but by then Bendek will need to likely work on paperwork or your machine—leaving you little time to do things together."

Earl gritted his teeth and looked at Chiya, "He's just trying to scare us, don't…" But it was too late, Chiya already had a depressed look on her face—a perfectly good dream shot down within moments. Earl swatted his hand down against his waist and growled at Seppuku, "Come on man, it's not that bad."

"Win the Grand Prix though, and you may be able to fund yourselves for a bit."

Chiya sighed and sat down next to the _Purring Kitten_ with her face covered sadly, Earl grunted and lowered his eyebrows with a saddened look. Seppuku tapped his foot down a few times and began to laugh at the two.

"Face it, no matter what, I will always own you two, one way or another."

Earl sighed and shut his eyes, Chiya simply sat completely motionlessly with a doleful look. Seppuku smirked at the two, he then began walking away towards the door with a prideful grin. Seppuku once again established his role as puppet master of the two. Earl approached Chiya and leaned against the _Purring Kitten_ with a puzzled look, he rubbed his chin and he stared down at the sitting Chiya. Seppuku then slammed the door shut.

Chiya looked up at Earl with watery eyes and a look of doubt, "Earl, is he right? Please tell me that the opportunity to do this is still on the table…"

Earl sighed and quirked his mouth, kicking his foot down a few times as he put together a response, "Well, I'm afraid to tell you that he's right," Chiya then let out a grunt and dipped her head down again sadly, "Though he was over exaggerating a bit there, we could still easily make a living on small minimum wage jobs—it isn't true that we need difficult full-time jobs."

"What about expenses? Movies, clothes, pet supplies?"

Earl lowered his eyelids sadly and glanced away from her, "Well…"

Chiya sighed and stood back up, "Just forget about it, it was a good idea while it lasted."

"What? No, come on."

She put her hand on his shoulder and quirked her mouth, "I don't want to be a provider, nor do I want you to stress out and overwork on my account," Earl bit his lip and looked into her eyes, she still had a faint smile and glimmering eyes as she spoke, "We'll be fine here, we just gotta' stick together when Seppuku acts out on us."

Earl slowly nodded and closed his eyes; he then sighed and glanced away, "Fine, but it's just that…" he put his hands together and gritted his teeth, "I'm pretty sure Dark Rose is trying to kill you right now, I just can't bear the thought of you dying because of Seppuku."

Chiya momentarily frowned at his fearful comment, "Please don't kill yourself because of me, I really think that's a stupid plan."

Earl quirked his mouth and lowered his eyebrows, "I'm not speaking about that again, we die together."

Chiya sighed and shook negatively, she then smiled and looked back at him, "Well, I'll just have to not die then!" she said gleefully.

Earl smirked back at her, "Just keep an eye out for Dark Rose, I know she's-"

Seppuku then kicked the door open again and marched towards them; Chiya widened her eyes and took a step back towards the _Purring Kitten_. Earl narrowed his eyes and gave Seppuku an intense stare as he quickly approached the two.

"What do you want now?" Earl asked hostilely.

Seppuku grabbed Chiya's shoulder, "John Tanaka of the Federation just called, he said that Jody would like to see you up at the Federation HQ pronto."

Chiya greatly widened her eyes and grunted nervously, "M- me?"

Seppuku nodded, "I don't know what the bat wants this time, but if she says anything about me behind my back, I expect you to tell me."

Chiya exhaled and looked at Earl, "Well, wanna' come wi-"

"Tanaka said to come alone, or not to come at all."

Chiya widened her eyes at this, "Oh."

Earl narrowed his eyes and quirked his mouth suspiciously, "Well then this must be something relevant to Mysteria, why else would they want only Chiya?"

"Maybe they want me for questioning, since we did kind of kill like ten to fifteen of Princia's men the other day…"

Earl shook negatively, "Firstly, they'd want me to come if that were it; secondly, that wasn't us, that was Lily."

Chiya sighed and turned around towards the cockpit of her machine, "Guess I better go get this sorted out…"

Earl crossed his arms together and nodded, "If you're not back within two hours, then I'm coming over to check up on you."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him as she strapped herself in, "Reasoning?"

"In case they plan on locking you away for some reason, no way I'll condone that without a fight."

Chiya nodded and closed the cockpit window. Seppuku smirked at the machine and momentarily began to chuckle, "Chiya seems to enjoy the ring."

Earl sighed, "Shut up man…"

The _Purring Kitten_ turned on and quickly spun around, leaving a strong gust blowing at Earl and Seppuku. Chiya clicked a button above her dashboard, momentarily opening the large garage door. She revved up the engine and drove off momentarily; she waved at the two as she quickly made her way out of the area. Earl and Seppuku looked at each other momentarily, Earl then smirked at him.

"Chiya's been kinda' on my mind the past months, what've you been up to?"

Seppuku smirked and inched his finger back, "Come to my office, I've got something you and Chiya will like—and you two can work on it together."

Earl smiled and nodded, "Lead the way."

Just before the garage door had closed, Dark Rose rolled under the door in time—she was wearing Chiya's typical attire now, along with golden dyed hair and eyes that were now slightly blue. Rose stood up momentarily and smirked evilly as she looked at the _Red Dove_.

"Might as well get a little extra credit from Black Shadow while I'm at it…"

She began to approach the _Red Dove_ with the same devious smirk, she then put away a handheld phone she was holding and pulled out a sharp dagger instead. She chuckled as she approached the back of the _Red Dove_.

"Blood Falcon was right, I do impersonate a man pretty well…" she said quietly aloud.

She then got behind the machine and put her hand on the boosters, then getting down onto the floor and crawling towards the engine. She began to chuckle as she moved across the dirty garage floor.

"A-ah, so _that's_ why you were in Princia's temple!" Earl shouted with a smirk.

Seppuku nodded and looked back up at the monitor he had on the wall, he had a large detailed blueprint onscreen of a Magican F-Zero engine—which was renowned for being very qualitative. Seppuku had explained to Earl as to why he entered the temple, as he was trying to obtain all information from the isolated planet for his own use.

"If you can replicate this engine, then both the Red Dove and Purring Kitten will have no problem keeping up with Captain Falcon."

Earl nodded quickly, "Should be no problem, but I don't think I can design this engine off of what's already installed, we need two new engines."

"That's not what I expect to hear from you, Bendek…"

Earl shrugged at him, "Sorry, if we even attempted this on our current engines, it'd overcharge and burst-then we have no engines at all."

Seppuku sighed and leaned against his desk, "How do you propose we afford two new engines?"

"I can buy them, but I'm not installing one of these experimental engines on the Purring Kitten until I see it working well on the Red Dove."

"Why?" Seppuku shot back angrily.

"Because, I won't risk ruining Chiya's chances in the Grand Prix by blowing up her engine if something goes wrong, if the Red Dove doesn't run correctly with one of these Magican engines, then at least the Purring Kitten will run still."

Seppuku quirked his mouth angrily, "Should've known you'd side with her, you traitor," he sneered.

Earl began to chuckled sarcastically, "I built her machine, am good friends with her, guided her through races, and admittedly-explored each others mouths a bit the other night," he then narrowed his eyes at Seppuku, "I'm in this still only because of her, she's the one I root for in the Grand Prix now, and as far as I'm concerned, you're just an ally that I happen to help out."

Seppuku slowly growled at Earl while tapping his fingers down constantly, "You've got a real mouth Bendek…"

Dark Rose had then kicked open the door with an evil grin, Seppuku and Earl both gasped and looked back at the door. Rose approached the desk slowly while still grinning, the only flaw she had appearance wise was her pale skin and bangs-as one of her bangs were longer than Chiya's. Earl's eyes were quivering at Rose as she came up, the biggest flaw Rose had done wrong so far-was that her hair was blonde, while Chiya's was still blue.

"What did Summer want?" demanded Seppuku.

Rose smirked and bowed, "Oh, she was just curious how I was doing."

Earl raised an eyebrow, "Well Chi', I see you took the dye out of your hair."

"Uh, okay," she responded with a somewhat confused look.

Seppuku rubbed his chin and leaned towards Rose with a look of concern, "Flower, you look pale as Hell, you feeling alright?"

Rose quirked her mouth and nodded, "Just have a bit of the sniffle, nothing that bad." Rose was holding a sharp dagger behind her back as she talked, prepared for her identity to be compromised at any moment.

Earl smirked at her and nodded, "So Chiya, we were thinking about upgrading our machines with new superior engines."

Rose chuckled and nodded, "That sounds interesting."

Earl lowered his eyebrows with the same smirk and nodded, "Yes, quite interesting…"

Rose and Earl then proceeded to have a stare down, Rose had a cheery look on her face at this point, Earl had a blank expression; he momentarily blinked at her and nodded. Rose then approached him and grabbed his hand, Earl momentarily gritted his teeth and looked at her, the room was silent.

"So-o, I was thinking Earl, you and me have been friends for a long time-I thought maybe we could go out for dinner or something…"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "We already made out, I fig-"

Earl was then interrupted by Rose's slight gasp, she then swallowed and nodded, "Oh, yes, that was a great time…"

Seppuku face palmed and sighed, "I'm honestly surprised you two didn't go that far sooner…"

Earl smirked and looked back at Seppuku, "It was a fitting moment."

Rose then clenched her fists, resisting the urge to get angered over this discovery-as she had wanted to be the first to claim Earl's lips so it would further hurt Chiya's feelings. Rose smirked knowing that she could go the extra mile still, she could still persuade Earl to sleep with her-something Chiya hadn't gotten to do. She would kill Earl immediately after the _session_.

"So, how about it then?" she asked again.

Earl grinned and nodded, "Dinner, yeah, sounds…" he then stared at her for a few moments with a smile, "Pretty good."

Rose grinned and nodded, "Excellent."

Seppuku sighed and momentarily jumped back on his computer, "Whatever…" he muttered angrily.

"Yes, let's go out on a date Chiya, but let me get something from my room first."

Rose quickly shoved the dagger down her shorts and nodded, "Fine."

The two then turned around and went back out the door, Earl was quickly moving up the hallway towards his room-but Rose came to a stop at the sight of something. She widened her eyes and began to tremble at the sight of Mauser, who was out in the hallway. Rose began to whimper as she stared down at the cat, Mauser momentarily came up to her legs and began rubbing on her-as if she truly was Chiya. Rose slowly reached down and put her hand on the cat, she then found herself gritting her teeth in pain-a trail of blood momentarily dripped down from her right eye as she looked at the cat she loved so dearly. A blood tear.

"Coming, Chiya?" asked Earl.

Rose widened her eyes and quickly wiped the blood from her eye, she then smiled and nodded, "Y- yes, I'm coming…"

Rose then stepped away from Mauser and continued down the hallway towards Earl. While walking towards him, she found herself looking back at Mauser constantly, suddenly reminded of some of the many joys of working for Seppuku-when she was still part of Chiya's blood. Rose then sighed and wrapped her arm around Earl as they walked out into the lobby, prepared to get the _date_ underway.

To be continued…


	43. Lap 42

==Lap 42=

Chiya was driving the _Purring Kitten_ down the streets of the Upper City, still making her way to the Federation HQ. Dark Rose had made a fake call to Seppuku asking for Chiya to come to the Federation HQ to speak with Jody Summer-but this was just a ruse to get the garage door open and to keep Chiya away from the base while Rose took Earl out to kill him. Chiya had no idea what was really going on, but was determined to meet up with Jody quickly and honor her apparent request.

Chiya gazed out towards the ocean as she went down the main road of Mute City; she lowered her eyebrows and licked her lips as the gentle water brought deep thoughts to her. _I wonder what Mysteria is gonna' bring me, what if they just ambush our ship with soldiers as soon as we land?_ Chiya sighed and looked up at the massive Federation HQ as she got closer; _What if I land myself in a similar scenario like Earl? Maybe a simple apology will set me free…_ Chiya then grunted with a look of discontent.

"Apology for killing my own father-the Mysterian government can blow me," she said aloud angrily.

She drove by a walking family and immediately was caught with happy waving-no matter how much time passed, people were always excited to see an F-Zero machine in person. Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly and waved back at the family, momentarily sighing as she looked back towards the road. She had a feeling of sadness seeing a family together, as she knew that this was something she would never get to enjoy again. Chiya dipped her head down and let out a heavy sigh.

"Please Abby, please be doing okay…" she pleaded softly.

Considering Chiya had not seen her family in six years, she had been left wondering ever since she left Mysteria if her family had perished for helping her escape trial. Fortunately for Chiya, Seppuku had recently given her a document showing that Fiona Flower; her mother, had filed bankruptcy-but this was all the information Chiya could obtain from Mysteria. It was enough for her though, she knew her mom was alive.

Chiya widened her eyes and hit the brakes quickly, coming to a rough stop right before a stoplight. She was gritting her wheel frantically and had her teeth clenched-just nearly going right through a red light. She exhaled in relief and wiped her forehead, a simple collision could have stripped her of her F-Zero license-only someone famous like Captain Falcon would get away with something like this. Chiya lowered her eyebrows and nodded with a determined look.

"Just wait mom, Abby; because I'm gonna' win this Grand Prix!" she then smiled faithfully and bobbed her head, "I'll just buy you guys a home here on Earth, it'll all work out!"

Chiya continued to wait for the light to turn green-but it was a stale light. She tapped her fingers around the wheel impatiently and began to growl. She then raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her dashboard-she couldn't tell what it was, but something was different. Chiya blinked a few times with a puzzled look, trying to spot what was different about her machine-the buttons and speed leveler were now in a farther position, meaning they had moved somewhat to the right. Chiya lowered her eyebrows and momentarily grunted in surprise-there was a new metal box installed in her machine next to the AC.

"Huh?"

She found a small piece of paper taped to the component, she picked it off with a look of intrigue. She then raised an eyebrow as she found writing on it:

_Chiya, decided that you might be looking to jam out while you race or just drive in general. So I installed this music player, it should work fine, but if it's on the fritz just tell me and I'll fix it ASAP. I won't be offended if you use it during races, but I would still like to talk to you every now and then, but I'm confident that you could race without me guiding you-you're just that good. Cheers! ~Earl Bendek_

Chiya smiled and lowered the paper, now looking at the box more closely-it was indeed a music player. She puckered her lips and got down near it, examining the parts of the component-though she realized that it was just a radio, he only called it a music player to make her more excited. Chiya smirked and nodded her head approvingly at the newly installed part.

"Ah-h, he does it aga-"

Chiya was then startled at the sound of vehicles honking their horns from behind her, she then widened her eyes and looked up-she was holding everyone behind her. "Oops! Sorry!" she said aloud.

She then quickly drove through the intersection-but the light had turned yellow as soon as she took off. Chiya glanced back at the light and gritted her teeth, she was the only one who ended up going through. "Sorry! Again…"

She dipped her head down and grinned, looking back at the radio again. She smiled again and glanced back up at the Federation HQ, "Wonder what Earl does while I'm away…"

Earl was driving down the same road as Chiya with Dark Rose-who was dressed just like Chiya. Earl had a smirk on his face as he drove calmly, Rose was staring at him constantly as they drove-both a love struck and fierce look on her face. Rose had her fingers gripped around her dagger firmly-she licked her lips as she stared at Earl's throat. _I could just do it right now, forget the date and sex-just cut his bloody head off and be done with it!_ she thought while twitching somewhat. Earl began to silently chuckle as he looked at Rose with a grin.

"So Chiya, I was thinking we'd go get some fast food before dinner."

Rose raised an eyebrow at him and gritted her teeth, "Eat before eating? What are you, Amer-"

"Just a small thing, maybe some ice cream for you-since it's your favorite."

Rose widened her eyes and beamed at him, "Yes, I do like ice cream," she then blinked a few times at Earl and eased up on her dagger, "I remember when I was sick in bed, and you brought me ice cream…"

Earl smirked and nodded, "Ye-eah, that was a fun night."

Rose put her hand on the window and frowned, "Back when people took care of me…"

Earl slowly raised an eyebrow at her, "Hm?"

Rose widened her eyes and let out a fake laugh, "I mean, a joke, you treat me so right at Seppuku's base."

Earl was still staring at her with a raised eyebrow, Rose still had the same fake smile, but momentarily widened her eyes as she caught something coming up in front of them-the _Purring Kitten_. Rose gritted her teeth and began to tremble.

"Something wrong Chiy-"

"My face! Is my face looking good today!?" Rose panicked, trying to keep Earl from looking out the window.

Earl nodded affirmatively, "Sure, you're fine."

The _Purring Kitten_ passed the vehicle, quickly going towards the Federation HQ. Rose momentarily cleared her throat and got a puzzled look on her face as she looked back at the _Purring Kitten_. _What? How did we end up in front of her? She left the base much earlier than us…_ Rose was puzzled as to why Chiya was running so late on this meet up with Jody-expecting that she would have been at the Federation HQ minutes ago, yet Earl and Rose were somehow closer to the HQ than her. Rose shook her head negatively and smirked; _Whatever, that'll just hold her off a bit more…_

Rose then gasped and widened her eyes as Earl held a dagger up to her face-Dark Rose's dagger, the one she had thrown into Seppuku's hand the day they had all met. Earl smirked and waved the dagger around in front of her.

"Just learned what this was made of, a very durable type of steel-more durable than what F-Zero machines are made of."

Rose's eyes were quivering as she looked at the slick blade, "Y- you don't say…"

"Wouldn't mind getting my hands on a few barrels of that stuff-could really reinforce the Purring Kitten's hull if we did."

Earl then put the dagger back in his coat pocket, Rose narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously; _So he's armed, I'll have to be extra careful in that case…_

Earl then stopped at the intersection and began to whistle a tune as he waited, Rose continued to grind her teeth as she stared at Earl-her heart was pumping constantly. She gripped her dagger even more tightly and began to tremble, _Do it, stab him, stab him, just do it!_

"So Chiya, I figured out your little secret."

Rose widened her eyes and gritted her teeth, preparing to lunge out at him if uncovered. "Hm?"

Earl looked straight into Chiya's eyes and nodded slightly, "Your eyes, I can see the thin outline around the center…"

Rose glared at him and began moving in towards him, preparing to grab his throat.

"You wear contact lenses, that's how you avoid wearing your glasses."

Rose grunted and momentarily fell back into her seat, "U-uh, yeah."

Earl smirked and dipped his head down, "I think you should just wear your glasses, you're cute in em', and who the Hell cares what Seppuku might think."

Rose lowered her eyebrows sadly and grunted again, "Yo- you would be okay with that?"

Earl nodded, "Of course, you'd be the same Chiya."

Rose found herself somewhat smiling happily, at this point she had set her dagger down next to her, still keeping it hidden from Earl. She then exhaled and nodded, "Thank you, you're a good man."

She then moved her eyes towards him again, _That'll be dead not long from now…_

A few minutes later, Chiya came walking into the entrance of the Federation HQ alone-it was her first time coming without either Earl or Seppuku. Chiya took a few steps into the lobby, but immediately stopped and gasped-the lobby was much different. _What the Hell?_ The lobby was now much more futuristic and sophisticated looking, the room was cooled perfectly, the floors were now marble, and a red paint was applied to the walls.

"When did they do this?" she asked aloud.

"What's up Ms. Flower?"

Chiya spun around and found a familiar face standing behind her, it was the Federation Spec Ops agent known as Rick Wheeler-she had met him the same day she met Jason Knox. Chiya blinked a few times at him with a puzzled look, she then shyly bowed to him.

"Hi Brock."

"Rick," he corrected.

Chiya glanced down at the floor in embarrassment, "Ah, sorry…"

Rick smirked at her and crossed his arms together, "I don't suppose you're here to join the Federation, are you? We could use good racers like you."

Chiya instantly beamed at him, "Good racers? Even after that last race?"

Rick chuckled flailed his hand around, "You were clearly having issues with your machine-no one would actually be idiotic enough to race with their cockpit open in that kind of blizzard."

Chiya grunted and dipped her head down, "Y- yeah…" she then shook her head and cleared her throat, "U-uh, no, I'm here to see Jody-she requested me."

Rick raised an eyebrow, "A- are you sure? Jody never requests people at this time, it's her break…"

Chiya nodded, "Yes, John Tanaka said she wanted to see me ASAP."

"Well, alright-I can bring you to the mess hall, but this is unlike her-she hates being bothered on break."

Chiya swallowed nervously, now wondering if she should come back at another time. Her general thinking was that Jody wanted a private audience if she requested her during break. "Yes, please take me to her."

About two minutes later, Rick had brought Chiya to a metal door-they were still on ground level however; this was a new part of the building for Chiya. Rick slowly opened the door and gave her a concerned look.

"If she gets angry, just tell her that I let you in-I can share some of the blame."

Chiya smiled and shook negatively, "No no, we're kind of friends, I'm sure she'll be fine."

Rick gave her an intense stare, "Yeah, well Stewart and Tanaka are her best friends-and she gave both of them burns on their cheeks after slapping them once."

Chiya widened her eyes and began to tremble, "Uh, what did they do exac-"

"Have a good day ma'am," he said walking away.

Chiya had a disturbed look on her face, she momentarily began to rub her cheek as if she had been slapped by Jody. _I doubt they sexually harassed her or anything, she must have slapped them for something minor… _Chiya widened her eyes and let out a panicked grin.

"She is like the female Seppuku…" she admitted aloud.

Chiya then hesitantly proceeded through the door, she was walking on her toes, intending on approaching Jody with the utmost silence. She gritted her teeth as she moved down a short hallway; she was constantly licking her lips as she took the quietest steps she could take. _Bollocks, hope she can't throw me in jail for sneaking up on her like this…_ Chiya could then hear the slight sounds of metal eating utensils a bit up ahead. Chiya peeked around the corner and was confronted with a very small dinner-like room, there were glass windows rather than walls and a clean flat white table in the middle. Jody was sitting at the end of the table eating a dish alone. Chiya swallowed and carefully moved towards the table, getting right behind Jody. She looked down at Jody's head and gritted her teeth nervously, _How do I go about revealing myself? Scare her playfully, just sit down, tap her shoulder?_ she then narrowed her eyes at her as she somehow didn't notice her standing right behind her. _Well geez, if I were an assassin I could have killed her easily…_ Chiya nodded her head and decided on how she would introduce herself.

Jody set down her fork and picked up an apple instead, she was about to take a bite from it-but was suddenly startled as Chiya practically leapt onto the chair next to her.

"Hi-i…"

"What the Hell!?" Jody panicked.

Chiya widened her eyes and immediately shook her hands frantically, "J- John Tanaka called and said that you wanted me, alone?"

Jody slammed her fist down and growled, "How dare- what? No I didn't." Jody then pointed at her and grunted, "Girl, what on Earth did you do to your hair?"

Chiya rubbed the back of her head uncomfortably, "Yeah yeah, Tanaka said you wanted me to come alone, or don't come at all."

"No, I didn't say that…"

Chiya widened her eyes and sighed, "Oh, well, maybe there was some miscommunication between Tanaka and Seppuku…"

Jody continued to growl, Chiya widened her eyes as she saw the juice from the apple going down Jody's fingers-she was crushing it with one hand. _Good lord, I've never seen more of Seppuku in a person in my life!_ she thought as she stared at Jody with a look of fright.

"Yeah, I didn't call you, either Seppuku was being an idiot, or Tanaka is fooling around."

Chiya face palmed and sighed, "I- I'm sorry Ms. Summer, I didn't mean to interrupt your lunch."

Jody nodded with her eyebrows lowered angrily, "Yeah, that's right."

Hiss! This girl has some real claws right now!

Jody crossed her arms and quirked her mouth, "However, ironically, I do have something for you and Seppuku," Chiya quirked her mouth back at her and nodded, Jody momentarily pulled up a binder from a bag on the ground and began searching around it. She momentarily pulled out an envelope and paper, handing the two to Chiya, "The envelope goes to Seppuku, make sure it reaches him-or else…"

Chiya gritted her teeth, "Or else..?"

"He's going to jail if he doesn't comply."

Chiya widened her eyes and nodded, "Oh my…" Chiya then looked down at the paper, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she found her name all over it, "So uh, what's th-"

"You have a mission as well, I made contact with someone very, very, important on Mysteria-and you're going to meet this person at the listed spaceport on the corresponding day."

Chiya rubbed her chin and nodded, "Oh? What if I'm arrested?"

"You won't."

Chiya slowly raised her head up in suspicion, "Hm, and who is it I'm meeting?"

Jody sat back and smirked, "I won't tell you, but let's just say-this person is very important, I went through very difficult procedures to get this meeting established-so I expect you to honor this and meet the person on that day, at that time."

Chiya shut her eyes angrily and quirked her mouth, "Why? What am I getting out of this? Will I go to jail if I fail to do this?"

"No, but believe me-there is a reward if you can do this."

Chiya chuckled and shook negatively, "Let me guess, I have to dress up as a fairy this time?"

Jody narrowed her eyes at her, "Get that envelope back to Seppuku, this may have been an inconvenience, but at least now I don't have to drive over to your little base to drop these off."

Chiya nodded and stepped away from the table, "I'm sorry for interrupting your lunch then…"

Jody nodded and watched as Chiya quickly moved out of the room, she had the papers roughly held in her hand-showing that she had disinterest in the mission. Jody smirked at Chiya and turned back towards her food.

About half an hour later Chiya reentered the base and went straight towards Seppuku's office with Jody's envelope in her hand. Chiya had somewhat of a smile on her face as she walked-she wasn't sure why, but she felt much more happy with her current situation at this point. Black Shadow hadn't ordered any huge attacks on them for awhile, and winning the Grand Prix was one of the big things on her mind, now believing that she can save her family with the prize money.

Chiya glanced over at Earl's door as she continued walking, it was shut and didn't appear to have any lights in the crevices. Chiya rubbed her chin and quirked her mouth with a look of puzzlement, _Well he wasn't in the garage, he must be with Seppuku…_ Chiya cleared her throat as she sped up towards Seppuku's door, she then stood up straight and opened the door calmly.

Seppuku looked up at her immediately and grunted with a startled look, he leaned over his desk with a confused look, "Flower, your hair…"

Chiya groaned and flailed her hands around, "Yes, it's blue! We've established that already!"

Seppuku quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "Ye-eah, but why did you re-dye it?"

"Re-dye?"

"Yeah, it was golden before you left with Bendek," Seppuku then smirked and began to chuckle, "Wait, you're already back? You must've done something really stupid and awkward…"

Chiya gasped and shook negatively, "Left with Earl? I just got back from the Federation HQ."

"You came back and asked Bendek out on a date."

Chiya let out a huge gasp and shook frantically, "N- no, I most certainly did not!"

"Went out for dinner."

"No! I did not!"

Seppuku crossed his arms at her, "So tell me Chiya, who did Bendek just leave with th-"

"Oh my God!" she panicked as she immediately spun around, running right back out the door with the envelope shoved down her shorts.

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her and sighed, "I really need to pick out who I save from the streets better next time…"

Earl and Rose were now at a dinner table inside of a restaurant, it was an establishment Earl always took his girlfriends to when he was still in the dating world. Rose was smirking at him the entire time and had her dagger concealed under the table, she no longer had any plans of getting dirty with Earl-rather she just wanted to steal a kiss and kill him while he was distracted. Earl tapped his fingers along the table constantly as they waited for their waiter to arrive.

Rose lowered her eyebrows and sighed, "Well, I'm glad you took me out here."

Earl nodded, "I love the stuff they serve here, it's not messy and doesn't have much of an odor," he then dropped his eyelids somewhat, "It doesn't affect your breath much…"

Rose lowered her eyelids as well with a smirk, "Is it to die for?"

Earl nodded, "Yeah, it's to die for."

Rose smiled and sat back stretching, "Well then, I look forward to it."

Earl grinned at her and sat back more calmly, waiting for the waiter to come and take their order. Rose had a devious look on her face as she stared at Earl intensely, Earl blinked a few times at her and momentarily chuckled.

"I'm sure you're excited for this next race."

Rose lowered her eyebrows and shook negatively, "Mist Flow? Yeah right, how many times have I established that I don't want to go back to Mysteria?"

Earl shrugged, "With Dark Rose on the loose, I figure that you'd wanna' get back and protect your family."

Rose narrowed her eyes at him, "We shouldn't concern ourselves with her, she'll never get close to any of us."

Earl shut his eyes and grinned, "I dunno' she's a tough cookie, she had some nice claws too," he rubbed his neck and smirked, "The day I met her, she really sunk those things into my skin."

Rose widened her eyes and moved her hand under the table-only just realizing that she forgot to remove her sharp nails, "Yeah, her nails are pretty vicious…"

"I like yours much more, can I see your hand?"

Rose gritted her teeth and growled, she then shut her eyes tightly and quickly began to push on her nails-breaking each one off of her fingers. She then exhaled and lifted her left hand up, bringing it up towards Earl. Earl raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Rose's fingers.

"Looks like you have glue on them, perhaps yo-"

"I was gonna' put some nails on, but I decided that I didn't like them, which is why glue is still present."

Earl slowly nodded and sighed momentarily, "Where's that damn waiter?"

"Bart! Bart Lemming!" Chiya panicked as she ran into the café.

Bart grunted and nearly dropped a glass he was holding; Jason Knox was once again present at the counter-but she hadn't even regarded his presence. Bart slammed his hands down on the counter with a frantic look.

"Ms. Flower, what is it?"

Chiya threw herself straight at the counter with a look of horror, "Bart, I-"

"You here to demonize me aga-"

"Shut up!" she shouted at Jason. Jason widened his eyes and turned away from her, Bart then tapped his finger down a few times.

"Come, come, you can tell me what's going on in private."

Chiya nodded quickly and ran to the other end of the counter, Bart quickly moved over with her-leaning over the counter with a cautious look. Chiya gritted her teeth and started to bounce up and down constantly.

"Earl's in danger, he thinks he's on a date with me, but he's really with Dark Rose right now, she's gonna' kill him if I don't hurry!"

Bart gasped and immediately pulled out a piece of paper and pen, "Okay, alright, we can solve this."

"Earl left for dinner with her, I need to hurry!"

Bart nodded and immediately began drawing a few intersections on the paper, "He always took his girlfriends to the South-End Restaurant-I'm positive that he would have taken her there."

Chiya nodded and quickly swiped the paper from his hands, "If what she told me in the Onsen is true, then she is gonna' try getting dirty with him first."

Bart nodded quickly, "Well hurry an- wait, you and Rose went to an Onsen together?"

"No time!" Chiya yelled running out the door.

She quickly leapt back inside of the _Purring Kitten_, which she had left running. Chiya had a look of horror on her face as she quickly strapped herself in and hit the accelerator. She drove right off the curb and illegally drove right into the oncoming lane, momentarily merging into the correct lane. She grunted nervously as she drove down the street as fast as she could-hardly regarding the safety of others.

"I'll be damned if I'm gonna' let that witch be Earl's first…" she muttered angrily. She then drove through a yellow light, her determination to save Earl was for once keeping her from being a safe driver, "If he's dead, I'm gonna' spend the rest of my life devoted to killing you Rose, this I swear!"

A few minutes later, Earl and Rose were still sitting together, both appeared fairly bored. Earl quirked his mouth as he tapped his fingers constantly, he looked up at Rose and grinned again. "This is a long wait, huh?"

Rose smirked back at him, "I bet I know something we could do to pass some time…"

Earl licked his lips and chuckled, "O-oh you…"

Rose gripped her fingers around her dagger and finally decided to make a move, pushing her chair around the table-closer to Earl. Earl widened his eyes and grinned at her, momentarily moving his chair towards her as well. The two momentarily got together, Rose beamed at a part of his neck she was envisioning going for. Earl then turned his head at her and chuckled.

"So…"

Rose gritted her teeth and lowered her eyebrows, "So?"

Earl lowered his eyelids and grinned, "I was thinking, maybe it's time to take things to the next level…"

Rose widened her eyes and eased up on her dagger, "Next level? As in..?"

Earl chuckled and patted her shoulder, "You and me Chiya, all nighter, nothing but me taming you."

Rose gasped and immediately widened her eyes, "Wha- you mean..? Really?"

Earl nodded, "What can I say, that body, it's just so magnificent-I just can't hold myself any longer."

Rose gritted her teeth in shock and grunted with a slight smile, "U-uh, yeah! Let's do it!"

Earl then pointed at her, "Just one thing…" Rose raised an excited eyebrow at him, "I don't wanna' waste my virginity on you, no offense-I was thinking we'd call the hot Dark Rose in for a three-way."

Rose lowered her eyebrows and began to twitch, "Wh- huh?"

"Oh no, I'll work on you too-but damn is that girl hot, I've had dreams of stealing that girls virginity like the dirty bastardish guy I am!"

Rose blushed and rubbed the back of her head, "So, you want Chiya- me and Rose, to-"

Earl began to chuckle deviously, "You two grease each other up a bit, do stuff with each other, then I'll take turns with you two back and forth."

Rose swallowed and continued to turn red, but had a smile on her face none-the-less, "Oh, well, of course you can work on her before me-I wouldn't care!"

Earl narrowed his eyes at her, "Good, good, it'll be the hottest night ever, and I know Rose is up for it…"

Rose nodded quickly and practically let go of her dagger-it was an opportunity she had no plans of missing. "I- I didn't know you were so dirty…"

Earl smirked and shrugged, "How about I buy you two some toys to play with?"

Rose raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Toys?"

Earl chuckled and wrapped his arm around Rose, "But first, let's make _this_ a time to remember…"

Rose grunted and nodded as she looked into Earl's eyes. Earl had a look telling her that he was about to come in for a kiss.

Chiya did a power slide near the curb and immediately jumped out of the _Purring Kitten_. She ran straight up to the large window and immediately slammed herself against it, scanning the restaurant for the two quickly. Chiya gritted her teeth as she could see no one, but then she spotted the worst thing she could imagine seeing. Chiya gasped in horror as she could see Earl and Rose about to lock lips with each other.

Chiya began to pound on the glass with both her fists wildly, "No-o!" she screamed as she pounded louder.

Earl and Rose both closed their eyes, Earl rubbed his hand around the back of her head as they crossed noses. Rose was trembling in excitement-because inside, she was still Chiya, the version of Chiya who wanted this-but never got it. Rose practically lost touch of reality as she prepared for Earl's gentle kiss-only it wasn't so gentle.

Rose suddenly let out a loud grunt of agony and bobbed her head up-her vampiric-like teeth was clearly visible. Earl smirked and immediately moved away from her. He had stabbed the side of her neck.

"Oh, I'm sorry Chiya-I accidentally stabbed you."

He then threw a heavy punch across her face, knocking her to the ground instantly. Earl chuckled and picked up the dagger she had just dropped, he brought it up to his face and nodded.

"See? Fair deal, we just traded daggers."

Rose got back up with blood going down her neck quickly, she made a few grunting noises as she stepped away from him-she was in clear agony, but had some inhuman-like trait to cope with this kind of infliction. Rose pointed at him as blood began to go right down onto the floor.

"H- how did yo-"

"A, Chiya's hair is blue right now, B, Chiya is soft, cute, and fun-you're just a witch, and C…" Rose narrowed her eyes at Earl as he grinned more, "Well, let's face it, I would never, ever, ever, talk dirty like that-it should have been obvious that I knew who you were this whole time…"

Rose growled and shook negatively, she then began running towards the door, "To Hell with you! I already have a Korean in my life, and he's much cooler than you!"

Earl smirked as she ran out the door with superhuman speed, "Yeah, Excalibur's great."

Earl exhaled and sat back down at the table, trying to recollect his thoughts. He tapped his fingers down a few times and lowered his eyebrows, "Damn, she's probably gonna' go after Chiya now…"

Earl then widened his eyes at the sound of giggling, he looked up quickly and found Chiya standing at the other end of the table with a smile. Earl grunted and smirked at her, he could tell that this was the real Chiya easily-not even because of the hair or skin color, but rather because of her initial giggle and smile. Earl and Chiya continued to stare at each other silently-it seemed that Chiya was the only one who saw the stabbing occur.

Earl grunted as the waiter had then come with the food Rose and Earl had requested-placing the dishes on each end of the table. Earl looked down at his steak, which was making him hungry. Chiya then pulled the chair over and sat down at the other end with the same smile, momentarily grabbing a fork and knife off the table. Earl smirked at her and began to chuckle, Chiya began to chuckle as well.

The two then continued to have a happy night of dinner together, Rose's plan had yet again been foiled. In the end all she did was waste time-and set up dinner for Earl and Chiya. A clear misfire.

To be continued…


	44. Lap 43

==Lap 43=

"Damn that mechanic, I just don't understand!" Dark Rose shouted angrily.

It was now late at night, Rose and Excalibur were together in the abandoned warehouse Chiya used to live in before meeting Seppuku. Rose had completely failed to kill Earl-though she could have easily done so if she cut the romantic parts out of her plan. Excalibur had a mission of his own to complete, this time involving direct contact with Seppuku's organization.

"I mean, maybe I wasn't being the goody two shoes Chiya is, but it's like Earl knew who I was as soon as I walked in the office."

Excalibur shrugged, "Told you, he's smart."

Rose fell back on the mattress in the main area, letting out a long and heavy sigh. "It took me forever to perfect my Tanaka impersonation…"

Excalibur was screwing corks into a bunch of lab tubes, sticking several of them into his pockets. Rose raised an eyebrow and looked up at him as he then pulled out a syringe.

"Wh- what's that?"

Excalibur carefully put the syringe in his pocket, then looked down at Rose, "Black Shadow wants me to collect blood samples from Chiya, claims that a copy needs blood from the original."

"For me?"

Excalibur nodded, "You clumsily got yourself stabbed yesterday, you could have easily died-but we had saved enough of Chiya's blood originally to keep you alive."

"How is her blood keeping me alive? Don't I produce blood?"

Excalibur shrugged, "Ask him, I'm just following orders."

Rose smirked at him and shrugged back, "So-o, you're gonna' go steal blood from Chiya then?"

"That's right."

"Why not just kill or capture her?"

Excalibur turned away from her and remained silent for a few moments, "Because, I don't hold a grudge against any of them," Rose gritted her teeth and raised an eyebrow, "Besides, the faster they're dead, the faster I'm out of a job."

"Well, I'll tag along and help collec-"

"No, you will stay here until further notice," he instructed with a solid finger.

Rose dipped her head down and nodded quickly, "Sorry, I just thought we could enjoy our time here a bit…"

Excalibur slightly chuckled, "You make it sound like this is some vacation."

"It is! I have no friends and no freedom on Black Shadow's ship!" she panicked.

Excalibur crossed his arms and sighed, taking a few moments to respond to her. Rose had a sad look on her face as she waited for Excalibur to respond to her, the two had only just become somewhat acquaintances, but to Rose-they were already best friends.

"Fine, you can help me-but no killing, or I'm done with you and Black Shadow for good."

Rose frowned and nodded, "Darn, I wish I could redeem myself by killing Earl-but I don't want to risk losing the last interesting person on our team."

Excalibur then turned around and pointed at her forehead, "Just remember, I need you to help me on something when we get back to the ship-and it has to be a secret, are you still willing to do this?"

Rose slowly nodded, but shrugged at the same time, "And we can be friends?"

Excalibur stood still for a few moments, he then crossed his arms together and nodded, "Yeah, we can be buddies if you help me out."

Rose gleefully smiled with her tongue stuck out and held out her hands, "Fine, it's a deal."

The two shook hands, establishing that Rose would help him with something aboard Black Shadow's ship. First thing was first though, Excalibur had to go complete his mission-Rose had failed hers, but Excalibur planned on a much quicker way of work. Excalibur then turned around and began walking towards the door, Rose puckered her lips and followed him with a playful look. She swept the Luger-styled pistol off the table and proceeded to follow him out the door.

"After a race like that, you can imagine that the Chiya Flower fan base took a fall-no one wants to root for someone who'll do hardheaded things," someone on the TV remarked in an interview.

"Probably, and she's gotta' watch it, she may be an F-Zero racer now, but her license could be revoked whenever the committee feels like it. She has to step up the game before they realize that she might not be the racer they were looking for."

Chiya was snoring on her bed, not even with her blanket. She was sleeping on the edge of her bed-practically on the floor, she had been watching F-Zero TV before falling into a slumber. Her legs and arms were spread out as she slept, but was clearly in an uncomfortable position to sleep in.

Excalibur momentarily opened her door, very quietly. He quickly got inside and shut the door, he then noticed that the TV was on. He grunted and quickly reached out for his handgun-before realizing that Chiya had only left it on. He dipped his head down and looked at Chiya, momentarily walking up to her. Excalibur got up next to her and slowly moved his hand towards her chin, softly rubbing his finger up her chin a few times. Chiya was renown for being a heavy sleeper-Earl had managed to carry her without waking her up before.

"Such a cute, innocent, nice-"

He then gasped as Chiya had grabbed his hand and put his finger in her mouth, Excalibur once again had his hand on his gun-but realized that she wasn't awake. He tried pulling his finger out of her mouth, but she was now biting onto it.

"Oh, that's just great," he muttered sarcastically.

He then reached down into his pocket and grabbed the syringe, carefully trying to grab a lab tube as well. He carefully slipped the tube between his two fingers and raised the two items up to his visor. He slowly tried slipping his finger out of her mouth, but she still had her hand wrapped around his hand, he sighed and carefully connected the tube into the syringe. He grabbed the fat of her right arm and carefully moved the needle up to her skin, he momentarily penetrated her skin and pushed it in further. Chiya immediately tightened her eyes and bit down as she felt the quick surge of pain. Excalibur grunted in pain as he could feel her sharp teeth going right down at his finger.

"Wh- what are you, some kind of vampire?" he asked very softly.

Excalibur disregarded the surge of pain and proceeded to draw blood from her, the tube was immediately filling up with her blood. He looked over at her teeth momentarily, wondering how he was going to get out of her mouth without waking her up. He then began to wiggle his finger around slightly, trying to slip it from under her teeth-but she had it perfectly locked down.

"Seppuku…" she muttered in her sleep.

Excalibur quickly got his finger out of her mouth as she muttered the simple name, he immediately wiped his finger on his jacket and took the needle out. He measured the blood and momentarily nodded, corking the tube back up.

"This should be enough."

He put the tube and syringe back in his pocket, then looked down at Chiya-she had a very gentle look as she turned her head to the side. Excalibur then walked to the side of her bed and grabbed her pillow and blanket, then moved back up to her. He carefully raised her head up and slipped the pillow under her, then placed the blanket over her. He turned around while nodding, walking back towards the door.

"It's the least I could-"

Excalibur then ran right into Mauser-stepping on his tail. Mauser let out a very loud screech and began to run around the room loudly.

"Shoot!"

Chiya immediately looked up and widened her eyes, "Maus- Excalibur!?"

Excalibur quickly dashed at her and held her down on the bed, forcing her head back down on the pillow, "Just go back to sleep! I was nice enough to put the pillow and blanket down for you, just let me run off n-"

Chiya then grabbed his neck with both hands and pushed him down to the floor, she fell down with him. Chiya had an enraged look on her face as she began to strangle him, "You made a ba-ad mistake buddy!"

"I- I can explain!"

Chiya eased up on his throat and raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"

He then grabbed her neck as well-only he did a wrestling-like move and switched positions, now on top of her. "I have Dark Rose waiting outside for me, let me go and none of us have to get harmed."

Chiya growled and kneed his crotch, he then let out a loud grunt and fell down onto her, "W- weak!" he complained.

Chiya got off of him and began to run for her table, reaching out for her gun. Excalibur grabbed her foot quickly and sent her back down onto the ground-a loud thump echoing as she fell. Excalibur then tried pulling her back towards him, Chiya tried crawling towards the table. He then fell down roughly, he looked up and found that he was holding her lone jackboot.

Chiya quickly grabbed her handgun and spun around, but she was suddenly hit in the face roughly by the boot. Excalibur then leaped at Chiya and grabbed her handgun, the two both grunted constantly as they battled over possession of the gun. Chiya then narrowed her eyes at him and reached down for his waist, Excalibur looked down to see what she was reaching for-before realizing that she pulled out his own handgun. He then grabbed Chiya's other hand, the two now battled for two handguns.

"C- come on! Just let me leave!"

Chiya shook negatively with her teeth gritted, "No! You were trying to kill me!"

"No I wasn't! I just took some of your blood, I'm gonna' destroy it after I give it to Black Shadow anyways!"

Chiya shook negatively, not understanding what his game was, "So you're on my side?"

"Ye- wait, no, not really, but kind of!"

Chiya widened her eyes with a puzzled look, but then narrowed her eyes again, "Liar."

She then curved her leg around his, trying desperately to gain any edge on either of the guns. Excalibur began to panic as he saw one of the guns getting dangerously close to his face-Chiya was somehow prevailing over him strength-wise. Chiya began to growl as she got closer to firing at his head. Excalibur let out a sigh and dipped his head down.

"Forgive me Chiya…"

She raised an eyebrow at him, but was momentarily punched straight in the face. She had control over one of the guns now, but was completely knocked down onto the table by his punch.

"O-ow…" she muttered in pain.

Excalibur then swiped the other gun from her hand, he was now aiming both of them at her from a distance. She rubbed her head and opened an eye at him, then gritted her teeth. "Wh- why don't you just kill me? I've been trying to kill you, why not you?"

Excalibur took a few steps back towards her bed, momentarily grabbing her pillow and blanket again. She gasped and continued to rub her face, a burning sensation was now all over face from the strong punch she had endured. Excalibur threw the pillow and blanket to her.

"Why? Why are you treating your enemy like this?" she demanded.

Excalibur walked towards the door and took one last look at her, "One day, perhaps we will have a real deal fight-but I want Bendek dead, not you."

Chiya gasped and looked up, "N- no! You can't kill Earl!"

Excalibur shrugged, "He cheated me during the war, I want redemption."

Chiya got back up and began moving towards him, "You're not taking one step into that room, not unless my brains are splattered against that wall."

Excalibur quickly aimed both guns at her, "I'm not after him yet, I'm doing a simple delivery for Black Shadow right now," he then opened the door and stomped his foot down, "Killing you is Rose's job, killing Bendek is mine."

He then spun around and began running down the hallway, Chiya quickly ran up to the door and watched as he exited towards the lobby. He was true to his word, he was leaving. Chiya rubbed her face some more and quickly ran up to Earl's door, she immediately opened it and ran inside.

"Earl!"

She then grunted and took a step back, he wasn't in the room. Chiya gritted her teeth and lowered her eyebrows, "What the Hell Earl, where could you possibly be this late at night..?"

"Wakey' wakey' Chiya…" Earl's soft voice bounced around Chiya's head.

Chiya grunted a few times and momentarily groaned, her back was now in pain as she had been sleeping in an uncomfortable position-that's when she realized, she wasn't in her room. Earl slapped Chiya's cheeks softly a few times, she momentarily opened her eyes and slowly looked up at Earl with no movements.

"…Earl?"

Earl smiled and nodded, "I slept on the floor, didn't wanna' wake you."

Chiya then looked down and found that she was laying on his bed. She still had one jackboot on-Excalibur had thrown the other one at her face. Chiya looked down at her foot and groaned again.

"I stayed up all night waiting for you to come home…" she then rubbed her eyes and yawned, "Where were you? I was so scared."

Earl shrugged, "The Gambling Area, I was making some good cash last night."

Chiya immediately stretched out towards him and grabbed his legs, pushing her cheek against him with a sad, yet thankful look. "Please, don't leave without telling me from now on, I thought for sure Excalibur was gonna' find you…"

"Excalibur?"

She nodded and hugged his leg more tightly, "He came yesterday, gave me a beating, then said he wanted you dead."

Earl remained still as she continued to rub her cheek against his leg, he momentarily smiled at her and began to chuckle, "What are you, a cat?"

"I wish…"

Earl then grabbed her hand and helped her up, "I explained yesterday's situation with Seppuku, he wants to hear what Jody had to say."

Chiya then widened her eyes and gasped, "Oh my, that's right!" she reached down her shorts and grabbed the envelope Jody had given her, "I have to deliver this to Seppuku!"

Earl lowered his eyebrows, "Wait, you just stuck that down your-"

Chiya then grabbed Earl's hand tightly and forced him to follow her out the door.

Seppuku had his fedora off for once and had it laying down on his desk, he was pulling fuzz off of the hat as he had nothing better to do. Chiya quickly kicked open the door and ran in with Earl-who had a puzzled look on his face. Seppuku looked up at Chiya and crossed his arms together.

"Good morning."

Chiya held the envelope up, but both Earl and Chiya momentarily gasped and widened their eyes at him. Chiya pointed at him and raised an eyebrow, "You- your hair, it looks like-"

"Bart Lemming's," answered Earl.

Seppuku nodded and brushed his hair, "We both have the same hair style," he then put the fedora back on his head and quirked his mouth, "You came in with a frantic look, what is it?"

Chiya approached his desk and put the envelope in front of him, "Sorry, Jody wanted you to have this yesterday-I just got sidetracked and forgot t-"

"Idiot."

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "Okay then…"

Seppuku violently ripped open the envelope and forced the letter out with little care, he immediately gritted his teeth and began to read it. Chiya and Earl glanced at each other slowly, wondering what Jody could have sent him that she couldn't say in person. Seppuku momentarily growled and began to tremble in anger.

"What is it?" asked Chiya.

Seppuku shook negatively and exhaled, "Lieutenant Seppuku, since you insist on having an illegal organization in Mute City, I've decided to give you a mission. You, Earl, and Chiya are to travel to Mysteria and locate Michael Chain-since his escape from prison was your fault completely. You may use whatever method of hunting available, we want Michael Chain dead-not alive, track him down and kill him. If you choose to ignore this mission, then I will be forced to have a brigade of soldiers arrest you and put you in the slammer. Chiya and Earl of course, will have three days to leave the base before we put an arrest warrant on them as well."

Chiya gasped and looked at Earl for a moment, Seppuku held his finger up as he prepared to conclude the letter, "Instructions on when you must be leaving for Mysteria is on Chiya's letter-as she has a mission as well. You will be taking transport thirty to Mysteria, if I do not find that you guys boarded the ship, then I will be over to have you arrested Lieutenant." Chiya lowered her eyebrows and grunted in shock, Earl had a disturbed look as well, "With love, Jody Summer; Chief and Spokeswoman for the Galactic Federation."

Chiya pulled out her paper and looked at it more closely, she then gasped and widened her eyes, "It says we're suppose to leave today!?"

Earl gasped and looked at Seppuku quickly, "Wait, we can't go to Mysteria already, what about Chiya?"

Seppuku crossed his arms and stood up, "We don't have much of a choice, if they try arresting her, we'll just have to fight our way through." Chiya gasped at the idea of killing Mysterian officers, "I hate to admit it, but we _do_ have to finally settle this score with Michael Chain."

Chiya sighed and nodded, "I'm kind of scared…"

Earl was looking over her shoulder at the paper she was holding, "Who's this person you're meeting on Mysteria?"

Chiya looked at the paper and shrugged, "Dunno', she wouldn't tell me-but she said it's someone very important."

Earl rubbed his chin and quirked his mouth, "I didn't even get your machines completely fixed…"

"Just get what you can done while on Mysteria-the race isn't for quite a few days."

Chiya snapped her fingers, "That's right, where are we gonna' stay then? We can't bring our ship along this time."

"Why not?" asked Earl.

"Mysteria doesn't allow private vessels, only transports and government ships," Seppuku answered.

"How's the temperature on Mysteria typically?" Seppuku asked Chiya.

Chiya closed an eye and wiggled her hand around, "Eh, mid forties…"

Earl stuck his tongue out and shook negatively, "This is gonna' suck." The three continued to contemplate where they could go, the main issue they were having was simply that Chiya would need asylum from the government. Earl then snapped his fingers and grinned, "We go find some mountains or something, and just set up a camp there."

Chiya smiled and clapped her hands, "and we can make a campfire and make s'mores!"

"No s'mores, but the idea of a campsite is pretty good," answered Seppuku.

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and looked back down at the paper, "We're landing at New Edinburgh, that's like an hour away from my hometown."

Earl put his hand on her shoulder, "Do you want to go to your hometown?"

Chiya nodded with a sad look, "Yeah, but there's no way we could pull it off-they know I'm coming to Mysteria, they'll be expecting me…"

Seppuku stood up and grabbed his rifle, "Well Chiya, we can't hold it off any longer then," he then came around his desk and approached the two, "You're finally going back to Mysteria."

She widened her eyes and nodded, "Yes, it'll bring back; many memories…"

Earl pointed his finger up, "Let's bring some assault rifles along, they're not arresting Chiya without a fight."

Chiya gasped and looked at Earl, "You'd become a criminal just to-"

"Course I would."

Chiya blinked a few times at him and momentarily turned towards Seppuku, "I- I'll go get my things."

She then turned around and grabbed the doorknob, she stood still before leaving and rubbed the back of her head, "I-i'm, actually gonna' shower this dye out of my hair first."

Earl raised his finger and walked up to her, "Me too, let's just run our heads under the shower."

The two then left Seppuku's office together, leaving him standing in front of his desk. Seppuku held his rifle firmly and glanced back at his desk, he momentarily leaned over it and sighed.

"Those two are gonna' get killed…" he said with a doubtful tone.

Chiya and Earl minutes later came out of the bathroom together with their hair completely wet, both had restored their natural coloring. They walked over to their doors, both intending to pack up for the trip. Chiya smiled and looked back at Earl as he opened his door.

"I almost forgot that you had brown hair."

Earl smirked and shrugged at her, "Yeah well, I'm never dying it again."

Chiya chuckled and closed her door, she took a step towards her bed with a bland look on her face. She stared at Mauser, who was licking himself on her bed. She then grabbed the cat and gave him a hug, softly stroking him as she had a faint smile.

"Mauser, I don't know when or if we'll be back, I'm going back to my planet and may not be coming back…" she then dipped her head down sadly, "B- but I'm sure Seppuku will take care of you if me and Earl are killed…"

The cat didn't bother look up at him, simply looking around the room as she held him, "I hope I come back, but I know one thing, if I go down, so does Earl-so I know you'd be left alone with Seppuku, but he loves you too."

Chiya then stood up and set Mauser down, "But let's not talk like that, I'm sure I'll be fine."

Chiya found her missing jackboot on the ground and put it on, then looked at the table. She gasped and widened her eyes, "My gun…" Excalibur had taken her pistol with him, the gun she had become so fond of over the year. She sighed and rubbed the back of her head, "Went through a lot with that gun…"

She still had most of her things packed in her bag from the last travel, so she just picked the bag up and moved straight towards the door. She took one last look back at her room and sighed, wondering if she would ever see this place again. Chiya felt that they would be okay, but she couldn't help but wonder how renown she was on her planet-no doubt people would want to collect her bounty.

"This is gonna' be a bloody mess…"

Much later, the three arrived at the Mute City spaceport, Earl and Seppuku drove the _Red Dove_ up the loading ramp of the transport, Chiya following them closely in the _Purring Kitten_. She looked around the cargo bay of the ship and exhaled nervously, instant flashbacks of the pirate attack filling her head. _I was hoping we'd never have to fly in one of these again…_ She parked her machine next to the _Red Dove_ and immediately jumped out. Earl and Seppuku momentarily came around towards her.

"Chiya, now that you're an F-Zero racer, you can come up to the reserved F-Zero area with me," said Seppuku.

Chiya frowned and looked down at Earl, "Can he come?"

"No."

Earl smirked and nodded, "It's okay Chiya, enjoy your time up in the luxury a-"

"Okay, I will."

Earl then narrowed his eyes at her, "Oh, uh, wow…" he then pulled out a handgun and held it out towards her, "Here."

Chiya looked down at the gun and widened her eyes, it was her missing handgun, "Wha-"

"I found it in the lobby, I imagine you wanted it back."

Chiya smiled and grabbed the handgun, "Me and this little thing went through a lot by now-it means a lot to me…"

Seppuku grabbed her shoulder, "Come on, let me show you the F-Zero section."

Chiya nodded and waved farewell to Earl, momentarily walking off with Seppuku. Earl remained still next to the two F-Zero machines, staring at the two as they departed from the room.

Dark Rose walked down the main hallway of Black Shadow's ship with the tube of blood in her hand, she was about to enter the throne room, but was quickly stopped by Blaskovitz.

"Hold on."

Rose turned around and raised an eyebrow at him, "What?"

"What are you doing with that blood?"

Rose swished the blood around and smirked, "Me and Excalibur got this from Chiya, with it, we can practically reconstruct any part of me that may be destroyed in battle."

"So you and Excalibur are partners then?"

Rose smirked and nodded, "That's right, we work great as a team."

Brock nodded at her and opened the throne room door, walking in front of her. Rose walked in behind him and began walking towards Black Shadow's staircase. Brock clenched his fists together as he stopped right in front of the first step, Dark Rose got to the side of him and smirked. Black Shadow slowly turned around and looked down at them, he had Blood Falcon up next to him-as they had been talking.

"What is it?" demanded Black Shadow.

Rose shook the blood in the air with a playful smile, "Me and Excalibur got the blood."

Black Shadow grunted and quirked his mouth, "He actually did it eh'?" he rubbed his chin and hummed, "Then clearly he can get close to them if he needs to, maybe I should hire him as an official member."

"Yes! Please, do it!" Rose begged.

Brock slowly moved his eyes over at Rose and stuck his tongue out in disgust, "I can see where this is going…"

"But then again, I could just kill him-and make clones of him…"

Rose gasped and shook negatively, "No, don't hurt him, he's a great guy who's willing to help."

"Kill him, and make several more great guys."

Rose gritted her teeth and shook negatively, "Please don't."

Black Shadow shrugged, "The again, the cloning device is a bit on the fritz, I wouldn't want to risk making another failed clone…" Black Shadow quirked his mouth and crossed his arms, "We all know how that turned out."

Rose nodded with a stern look, "Blood Falcon is Captain Falcon's identical clone, and he can be a bit stupid at times-unlike Captain Falcon," Blood Falcon growled at her and crossed his arms together, "Maybe that's a sign that the cloning process dumbs down the clone a bit, therefore you should just keep Excalibur alive."

Black Shadow rubbed his chin and slowly nodded, "You may have a point, for now…" He then turned back around and sighed, "I'll consider adding him to the team, but only if he returns to me."

"He said he was gonna' be gone until the end of the Mysteria race."

Black Shadow nodded and sat down in his chair, he began to chuckle as he crossed his fingers together evilly, "They're running out of time, after centuries of work, I am so close to assuming the role of God…" he flailed his arms in the air and began to chuckle, "They only have so many months left before I unleash Hell on the universe, and the only one that could possibly stop me, is the one who nearly stopped me before…"

Blood Falcon grinned at him, Rose nodded with a smirk, Black Shadow then crossed his arms together, "Whoever has the Falcon title, his father had nearly killed me, bu-ut, that was a case in the end where evil prevailed."

He then clenched his hand and grinned, "After killing his father, I'm sure Captain Falcon is dying to kill me…"

Black Shadow yawned and stretched, "All of this devious thinking has left me tired, get the Hell out, all of you."

Blood Falcon nodded and quickly moved down the stairs, the three then departed back out the massive door, leaving Black Shadow alone in his chair. He smirked and exhaled with a look of excitement.

"Once I retrieve Lieutenant Seppuku, no one will be able to stop me…"

To be continued…


	45. Lap 44

==Lap 44=

"Oh my Goodness…" Chiya squealed in pleasure as she rubbed her body all over a cream colored couch.

Seppuku was sitting next to her with a confused look as she continued to obsess over the luxury couch. The two were up in the reserved F-Zero area of the transport, only official racers were admitted up here. Seppuku normally stayed up in this area the past few times they traveled this way, Chiya was now an F-Zero racer herself and could come up here on her own will. Though she still felt safer getting Seppuku's permission first, even if it wasn't up to him whether she could or not.

Chiya continued to moan as she squirmed around the couch constantly with a quivering smile, Seppuku finally smirked and shook his head negatively.

"What are you, on drugs?"

Chiya hugged the cushion of the couch and shook negatively, "I've never in my life sat in anything like this," she then let out a long exhale of joy, "I thought Earl's couch was comfortable, this thing is straight from Heaven."

Seppuku let out a devious smirk, "I figured that you explored every part of Earl's couch by now."

Chiya opened an eye at him and puckered her lips, "Eh?"

Seppuku chuckled and shook negatively as he glanced away from her, "Nothing."

Chiya stuck her tongue out at him moments later, "You dirty man."

Seppuku stared out at the stars silently as Chiya continued to move around the couch. Seppuku momentarily looked back down at her, "What do you think about me turning the lobby into a living room?"

Chiya stopped squirming and stuck her tongue out, "The lobby is cold and dark, besides, Earl's room is kind of the living room."

Seppuku quirked his mouth and nodded, "Alright."

Chiya then got her legs up on the couch after dropping her jackboots, now curling up and stretching some more on the couch. Seppuku crossed his arms together and had a quivering mouth as he looked back down at Chiya. She had a gleeful look on her face and was wiggling her toes as she stretched-she was wearing white socks for once, rather than her typical black.

"Ah, no, you're not on drugs, you're a cat."

Chiya then puckered her lips playfully and got on her back, looking up at Seppuku. She slowly made a clawing motion towards him, "Me-eow…" she said playfully.

Seppuku immediately began to laugh slightly as Chiya continued to imitate a cat. Chiya brought her feet closer to her rear and momentarily dropped her puckered lips-now staring at him with a look of fright. Seppuku continued to laugh silently at her, he momentarily stopped and continued to smile at her.

"Yo- you're doing it again…" Chiya said fearfully.

Seppuku raised an eyebrow, "Doing what?"

Chiya slowly pointed at his face with a shocked look, "You're laughing and smiling…" she then rubbed her face and looked at her hand with a raised eyebrow, "There's nothing on my face, are you imagining a dog eating me or something?"

Seppuku then got an offended look on his face, "What are you implying?" he demanded.

Chiya grunted and slowly sank the back of her head into the cushion more, "Uh, well, you kinda' hate me, so I don't-"

"What? No I don't."

Chiya gasped and widened her eyes, "You don't?"

Seppuku put his hand on her shoulder and shook negatively, "Of course I don't."

"Th- then why are you so mean to me?"

Seppuku continued to hold onto her shoulder, he then sighed and turned his head away from her, "It's just who I am, who I've always been," he then quirked his mouth and sighed, "If you want the honest truth Flower…"

He looked back at her with a stern look, "You should know that I do lov-" Chiya gasped and held her mouth with her eyes completely shot open, Seppuku struggled to complete his sentence, "Well, I view you like the daughter I never wanted-Lily Flyer being the one I wanted."

Chiya exhaled in relief, "Oh, thank God…"

Seppuku crossed his legs together and looked back at her, "Don't worry, I'm too old fo- wait, no, you're too young for me." Chiya smiled and nodded, "Not to mention I find your accent and personality annoying as Hell."

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "Well then, what's wrong with my accent?"

"It's so English-I don't get why you came to Mute City, you could've just went to England or Scotland-maybe even Ireland."

Chiya widened her eyes and chuckled, "I have no idea where any of those places are…"

Seppuku removed his hand from her shoulder and nodded, "Course' you don't, you're Chiya." Chiya got a furious look on her face suddenly, Seppuku put his finger on her lip before she could speak, "Me and Bendek may have more book smarts than you, but I can safely admit something-this organization would have fallen apart without you."

Chiya slowly sat up straight and cleared her throat with a shy look, "So, I'm not some disappointment in your eyes?" She then looked at Seppuku sadly, "I wish I could be more like Lily Flyer, but I'm just not like that, I have a passion for kitties, flowers, sketching, and F-Zero racing; not guns, killing, and explosions."

"As long as you try, you will never be a complete disappointment-like for example, you messed up months ago when you revealed the Blaskovitz where our base was, but you advocated and did the right thing-you left to kill him immediately after." Seppuku crossed his arms and smirked, "If you had just stayed in the garage with Earl and let him leave with that information, then you would just be dead weight to me."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows as she remembered this fateful day, but the one thing she remembered most now was the garage. The moment she and Earl hugged each other, believing that she may not come back alive-Earl had attempted to kiss her, but she quickly reacted by slapping him across the face.

"I was such an idiot…" Chiya muttered with a faint smile.

Seppuku patted her back and nodded, "Go spend time with Bendek, I'm sure you don't wanna' stay here with me."

Chiya gasped and had a fake smile as she shook negatively, "No-o, no-o, that's not true…" she lied.

Seppuku pointed at the door and smirked, "Go, mind you, we are going to Mysteria right now-this could be your final time to spend with him…"

Chiya momentarily lowered her eyebrows sadly and bit her lip, _He's right, I could be killed on the spot once landing, and I would never get to see Earl again…_ Chiya swallowed nervously and nodded quickly, she stood up and bowed to Seppuku.

"Thank you."

Earl was hanging around the dining area of the ship with a puzzled and bored look, he stood rubbing his chin in awe at the massive amount of people that were crowded in the ship. He moved down the crowd, scanning each table to see if anyone was gambling-but he was seeing nothing of the sort.

"Why the Hell are there so much people here?" he complained aloud.

He tried moving his way through the crowd, resorting to pushing people aside as he tried making his way to the mini-bar counter. Earl growled as he pushed several people aside, "Jesus Ch-"

"Earl Bendek?" a hostile sounding voice asked.

Earl stopped and looked around the room for the source of the voice, he momentarily found someone approaching him and got a smug look, "Aw geez, what are you doing here?"

Jason Knox crossed his arms and bit his lip as he stared at Earl, "What do you think genius? Mysteria's hosting the final game for the Galaxy Cup tomorrow."

Earl sighed, "Ah, soccer…"

Jason pointed over at the mini-bar, "Bart's here too."

"You two here together?"

Jason shook negatively, "Meeting my girlfriend on Mysteria, gonna' stick around for the Galaxy Cup and third Grand Prix race."

Earl narrowed his eyes at him, "Yeah, Chiya's up in the F-Zero section of the ship."

Jason chuckled and roughly patted his shoulder, "Have fun with Blondie, she's strict and just wants marriage-you'll neve-"

"Actually…" Earl smirked at him and narrowed his eyes, curving his fingers slightly, "I got my fingers right in her cleavage…"

Jason widened his eyes, "Wh- what?"

Earl nodded, "Yep, she got topless and let me grope her-I also got to massage her bare back and stomach."

Jason gritted his teeth in shock and shook negatively, "No way…" he then got a perverse grin, "How was it? Was it amazing? Does she have nice-"

Earl interrupted him by chuckling, "You'll never figure that out, now will you?"

Jason stomped his foot down, "Well what the Hell, why wouldn't she go that far with me?"

Chiya momentarily ran right into Earl and wrapped her arms around his back, Earl widened his eyes as he was nearly knocked down by her forceful hug. Earl then smiled and patted her hands slightly. Jason raised an eyebrow, but then nodded.

"Ah, she locked you down, that's why…"

Chiya then glared at Jason with a surprised look, "What are you doing here?"

Seppuku approached a window in the F-Zero area and looked down at the dining area, the window allowed him to observe the entire room. He looked down and spotted Earl and Chiya with each other, he then raised an eyebrow as he spotted another familiar face. Dr. Stewart and Bart Lemming were together at the mini-bar. He then looked at the door that led to the library-Antonio Guster was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, yet another familiar face could be seen in the crowd; Mighty Gazelle was standing somewhat close to the mini-bar as well.

"A lot of F-Zero racers…" Seppuku muttered somewhat surprised.

He too was noticing the large amount of people in the dining room. He momentarily rubbed his chin and decided to move towards the exit, wanting to figure out more about what was going on.

"I don't care what you say, I'm not a dumb blonde, I'm smart not wanting to waste something special on a womanizer like you!" Chiya argued to Jason.

Jason chuckled and shook negatively, "I'm no womanizer, I just like taking girls out for the time of their lives-we all get old eventually, as might as well mess around before it gets disgusting."

Earl raised an eyebrow at him, "Chiya's the idiot? You pretty much just spelt out the definition of womanizer, do you not know what it means or something?"

Jason swished his hand at him, "Whatever, you two can just go have a retarded baby together or something, but I'm gonna' keep partying."

Earl and Chiya both glanced away from each other with somewhat embarrassed looks, Earl then cleared his throat, "Yeah, well, you better hope that Chiya doesn't win the Grand Prix then."

Jason smirked at him, "Eh?"

Earl grinned and pointed at him, "Cause if she wins, she'll tell everyone in the world to stay away from you-you'll never score again."

Jason widened his eyes and looked at Chiya, "Woah, now hold on for a second, I don't hate Chiya or anything…" Chiya lowered her eyebrows challengingly and smirked at him, "She's actually brighter than I make out, and besides, didn't we have fun when we were dating?"

Chiya nodded, "Yeah, before you tried raping me."

Jason shook his head quickly, "N- no, that was just the alcohol, I'm not really like tha-"

"Just shut up," Earl said with a solid tone.

Jason began to tremble as he gritted his teeth in shock, "Okay, look man, if you do that on live television, everyone in the universe will know about my hobby-I'll never get employed, I'll be kicked out of places, and I'm sure the Federation will be watching me…"

Earl smiled and patted his shoulder, "Well, looks like Blood Falcon can count on your support then!"

Jason continued to tremble as he looked back and forth at Chiya and Earl, he then swallowed nervously and dipped his head down. "Seriously, I can't-"

"Passengers, if I can have your attention please!" a man yelled from a balcony above the dining room.

Earl momentarily jolted his head up startled as a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder, he looked back and was immediately met with bright red eyes-Dark Rose. "D- Da-"

Chiya then glanced at Earl, immediately widening her eyes as she looked behind him, "Oh my God…" she muttered.

Everyone remained silent none-the-less, Rose stood perfectly still next to Earl and Chiya as she looked up at the balcony. There was a fairly obese man in a suit standing next to a frail looking captain.

"At this time, in the name of the Federation and Intergalactic Space Travel, we would like to award our oldest pilot with a great honor-respecting his wish to finally retire after seventy years of optimal work."

A few people clapped for him as the man held up a black case, "Inside of this, is a gift obtained through several generous donations, it is a necklace estimated around one million credits."

Chiya widened her eyes and glanced over at Earl for a moment, even Dark Rose had a look of shock on her face at the estimated cost. The man then opened the case and carefully pulled out a golden necklace. The diamond had thousands of small sapphires going around it, a few diamonds, and a very bright medallion at the bottom of a star.

Everyone began to converse and making sounds of amazement, Chiya gasped and widened her eyes with a huge smile, "That's so beautiful! I would look amazing in that!"

Earl nodded in agreement, "Yeah you would, but I think that could easily fetch more than a million-a lot of money for beer and gambling."

Jason held his cheek as he looked up, "I'd kill for a necklace like that."

Rose chuckled and crossed her arms together, "I could buy my very own F-Zero machine with that thing."

Jason then turned around towards Rose and gasped, immediately locking eyes with her, "Oh my…"

Chiya raised an eyebrow at the two, then got a bright look, "Yes! You two should date each other!" Chiya then wrapped her arm around Rose with puckered lips, "He's a great guy who'll treat you right…" she whispered to her.

Earl shook his head negatively, "Come on Chiya, she has the same body as you-why would you want to let Jason see that?"

Chiya put her finger on her lips and nodded, "Yeah never mind, don't date him, he'll break your heart."

Jason narrowed his eyes at Chiya, "Shut up Blondie."

Rose then chuckled at him and brushed her bangs aside, "Yes, well I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment, I already have someone in mind."

Earl slowly raised an eyebrow and looked at Rose, "Wait, you mean Exca-"

The lights then turned off, leaving everyone in a panic. Chiya widened her eyes as the room was completely pitch black-only the windows of the ship brought slight light down in certain areas. Chiya immediately reached forward and could feel a leather coat, she tightly latched her arm around it and put her cheek up to the leather fearfully-wanting to stay close to Earl. She could feel several people running into them, as everyone began to overreact at what seemed to be a simple technical issue with the lights.

Crack.

The room lit up for a slight moment; a gun had been fired. A thumping noise could be heard momentarily, and within seconds the entire ship was filled with screaming and shouting. Chiya widened her eyes and pulled out her handgun, assuming that Dark Rose was trying to kill them. She held onto the leather coat more tightly as she swung her gun around-she was relieved to know that Earl hadn't been shot, as she was still holding him.

"Rose!" Chiya shouted angrily.

"What? Where are you?" she responded immediately.

Chiya gasped and continued to bounce around frantically, trying to make out what was going on. The sound of a whistle going off could momentarily be heard, everyone began to quiet down as the whistle blew loudly. Chiya tightly held her handgun as she looked behind her, as she knew the whistle was coming from the back of the room. Momentarily, a bright red light shined in the room-Seppuku was holding a red flare like stick.

"All of you, calm the Hell down for a minute!"

Most of everyone had then become silent, the room was still dark-but Seppuku's face was clearly visible to everyone. He nodded and held the flare in front of him more closely.

"Alright, Bendek, you go get the lights back-"

Before he could finish his instructions, the lights came back on. Seppuku quirked his mouth and put away the flare, he was holding his rifle with one hand. Everyone then gasped. Chiya had her handgun still in her hands, not only this, but Rose had her Luger out.

"Chiya!" Earl shouted.

She then widened her eyes and glanced to her right, Earl was standing still with his handgun drawn as well. She raised an eyebrow at him, then gasped and looked at the arm she was holding-realizing she was holding black leather. She immediately cringed and leaped away from Jason, getting behind Earl instead. Jason had a gun of his own drawn, a handgun made in the American continent. Bart Lemming and Dr. Stewart also had guns out, Bart had the exact same kind of pistol Captain Falcon had, Dr. Stewart had a standard issued Federation handgun. Finally, Antonio Guster had a shotgun in his hands, Mighty Gazelle was holding an smg developed on Aeropolis.

Everyone then gasped and began moving to the side of the room-revealing the dead body of the old pilot, the black case was laying on the floor next to him. A small puddle of blood surrounded his head. He had been shot and fell off the balcony.

Chiya gasped and pointed at the corpse, "Look! Someone stole the necklace!"

Nearly everyone then slowly looked at Chiya with disturbed looks, Earl sighed and shook negatively at her. Chiya widened her eyes and began to tremble, wondering what she did wrong. She then grunted and rubbed the back of her head, "Oh, and the pilot's been killed!"

Seppuku began to chuckle as he walked towards the four, "Well, well, well, it looks like at least eight people have guns out right now…"

Bart raised an eyebrow at Seppuku from across the room, he then looked down at his pistol and gritted his teeth, "Uh oh…"

Seppuku then pointed his finger at the four, "There are many suspects here, clearly someone wanted that necklace-prepared to go the extra mile to get it."

Chiya gasped and put away her handgun, "I didn't do it!"

"But we don't know that."

Chiya widened her eyes and took a step back towards Earl. Earl grabbed her calmly and narrowed his eyes at Seppuku, "Come on man, we all know who did this…" he said while glaring at Dark Rose.

Rose grunted and shook negatively, "N- no, I didn't do that, I only kill who Black Shadow tells me to."

Seppuku smirked at her, "Perhaps you finally snapped, wanted to use the money to relocate-perhaps Japan?"

Seppuku walked past the four and approached the mini-bar, "Perhaps Mr. Lemming finally wanted to get out of that café," Bart continued to stare at Seppuku with an intrigued look, "Or perhaps you were planning on gifting the necklace to Summer, Dr. Stewart?"

Dr. Stewart gasped and shook negatively, "No, there is nothing going on between us, and I'm-"

"Guster, you claimed that you wanted to pay off the Federation for your crimes, and to become a bodyguard…" Guster gritted his teeth angrily at Seppuku, "You were a pirate, after all."

"I gave that up…"

Bart grinned and rubbed his chin, "What about you? A million credits could fund your organization for a long time."

Seppuku stopped in front of Mighty Gazelle, but turned towards Bart instead, "I didn't do it, and I'll explain why after we interrogate everyone here."

Dr. Stewart grabbed Bart's shoulder, "Let em' go through with this, he was a very good detective, let's see if he can figure this one out."

Seppuku approached Chiya and Earl again, "Let's start with the gentle Flower…"

Chiya widened her eyes and grabbed Earl's hand, "I- I didn't do it."

Seppuku smirked at her, "Perhaps the innocent young Chiya decided that she needed to be more pretty, so she was prepared to kill to do so," he then chuckled and rubbed his chin, "That necklace would look nice on you…" Chiya gritted her teeth and shook negatively, "Is the perfectly innocent girl, really a jewel crazed homicidal maniac?"

Chiya stomped her foot down, "I didn't do it! I like ice cream and soft kitties!"

"Handgun please."

Chiya widened her eyes and tilted her head, "For?"

"Hand it over Flower, I want to do an ammo check." Chiya then widened her eyes, Seppuku smirked at her, "If you have a full clip of ammo, then there's no way you did it."

Chiya continued to tremble with a shocked look, hesitating to grab her gun. Seppuku sighed and swiped her gun out of her holster. Chiya shook her head negatively quickly, "I didn't do it!"

Seppuku then took the clip out, he smirked at the sight of only three bullets in the gun. "You're missing a few bullets, mind telling me why this isn't still full?"

Chiya's eyes were quivering as she looked around the room at all of the suspicious people, "I swear Seppuku, I just forget to load it back up!"

Seppuku chuckled and handed her the gun, "Yeah, right."

Earl momentarily growled and shook his fist at Seppuku, "Hey lay off man, who's side are you on anyways?"

Seppuku smirked at him, then stole Earl's gun out of his hand, "Exactly what I would expect from her partner in crime…" Earl widened his eyes with a puzzled look, Seppuku then took out the clip-but found that it was full, he then handed the gun back to Earl.

"Partner in crime?"

Seppuku nodded, "You two want to leave for Vietnam together, a million credits could probably buy you guys a nice farm out in the country…"

Chiya widened her eyes and glanced up at Earl, he was gritting his teeth while shaking negatively, "Well, we kind of have Dark Rose standing right here, do you really think stealing a necklace was on our top agenda?"

Seppuku rubbed his chin and nodded slowly, "Perhaps, but Chiya is in the hot zone right now, let's see what else I can gather…"

He turned towards Rose and smirked, "He's right though, of all the people in this ship, you have the most reasoning to cause mayhem."

Rose quirked her mouth at him, "Oh really?"

Seppuku nodded, "I bet that power outage was your doing, where you'd quickly kill Earl and Chiya-but your little mind decided that you could go for some jewelry while you were at it."

Rose hissed at him, "Oh, for sure."

Chiya pointed at her with a fierce look, "She even said it herself, with that money, she coulda' bought an F-Zero machine."  
Seppuku observed her Luger carefully, "Nice gun." He then took the clip out and found all of the ammo present, Seppuku nodded and handed her back the gun-but not the clip.

Rose narrowed her eyes at him, "May I have my clip back?"

"No." Seppuku then turned towards Jason, "Who might you be."

"Jason Knox."

Seppuku smirked at him, "So you're that little freak who wanted to see Chiya in that revealing shirt…" Chiya rubbed the back of her head and sighed, Seppuku checked his gun, he smirked as he found a single bullet missing from the clip, "Where's the bullet, Knox?"

Jason gritted his teeth and shook negatively, "Dunno' I was out shooting the other day, probably thought it was full."

Seppuku smirked and tapped his foot a few times, "Flower was missing a few bullets, you're just missing one-and from what I can see, only one shot was taken on that man."

Chiya pointed her finger up, "And let's not forget what Jason had said before the shooting occurred…"

- Chiya's Flashback -

Chiya had a perfectly fit body, perfectly sized breasts, and beautiful long hair, she had her hand wrapped around Earl-who had muscles like Captain Falcon. Chiya rubbed Earl's muscles as the man spoke about the necklace above the balcony. Chiya then smiled and nodded.

"I could help so many innocent cats in animal shelters, if I had collected a million credits anonymously."

Earl chuckled and nodded, "And you'd look even hotter in that necklace, but you sure don't need it, you already look stunning."

Jason had an evil look on his face-his skin was pale white, his back curved, his vampiric looking teeth grinding as he licked his lips. He had a huge swastika tattoo on his forehead and the words _Hail Satan_ imprinted on his arm. Jason began to lick the barrel of his handgun as he looked up at the necklace, wrapping his tongue roughly around his gun as they spoke.

"I would _kill_ for that necklace…" he then began to chuckle maniacally, momentarily burning a picture of a puppy like the dark hearted person he was.

- End -

"He obviously did it, let's just arrest him and continue our journey to Mysteria," said Chiya.

Seppuku chuckled at her, "You seem very anxious to get through this, a bit suspicious…"

Chiya then shut her mouth and widened her eyes, nodding momentarily. Jason shook his head negatively, "I couldn't have shot the guy, how would I have even-it was so dark, don't you think the killer would be on the balcony?"

Seppuku hummed and looked over at Bart Lemming-who was closest to the door leading to the stairs, "A good point, said person would have a much better shot if on the balcony…"

Seppuku then began to approach Bart with his fists clenched, "How about it, was Bart Lemming finally tired of working in that small café?" Seppuku then stopped right in front of Bart, getting especially close up to him.

Bart lowered his eyebrows at him, "I see how I could have been the one to do this, but you realize that I'm a billionaire, right?"

Seppuku rubbed his chin and hummed in suspicion, trying to think of a reason as to why Bart may do this. Seppuku then slowly found that his fedora was being lifted off his head, Bart gritted his teeth and lowered his eyebrows in confusion. Chiya was behind Seppuku with his hat now lifted up.

"See! He does look just like Bart!"

Seppuku growled at her and stole the hat out of her hands, forcing it back onto his head, "Anyways…"

Bart chuckled, "Why would I need the money? I'm already rich-the café isn't for pay, it's for conversation."

"Perhaps you wanted to renovate it with the money?"

Bart sighed, "Okay, for the last time; I, am, rich."

Seppuku grabbed his handgun and took out the clip, immediately finding that it was full. Seppuku swished his hand at Bart and quirked his mouth, "Okay, Lemming didn't do it."

Seppuku walked over to Dr. Stewart and grabbed his gun, he immediately found that it was missing four bullets. Seppuku slowly looked up at him, "Strange, why would an officer of the law only have one bullet ready?"

Stewart shrugged, "This was honestly the first time I had taken out my gun since the final gang war battle, I probably just forgot to load it up after so many months."

Seppuku smirked, "What about training? As I recall, the Federation makes everyone do weekly target practice." Dr. Stewart gritted his teeth and began to tremble, Seppuku began to grin more widely at the obvious fear Stewart had, "Your nerves are betraying you, Stewart."

Dr. Stewart dipped his head down and sighed, "Okay, okay, I secretly skip out on training-my gun skills are automatic, I don't need to train," he then looked back up at Seppuku, "If Jody found out, I'd risk losing my job."

Seppuku quirked his mouth and slowly nodded, he was then quickly confronted by Antonio Guster, "Well come on now Seppuku, check it, cause the shotgu-un's empty as a shell!"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at Guster and quickly checked his shotgun-he spoke the truth, the gun was completely empty. "Why is it empty?"

Guster grinded his teeth at him, "Ran out, gonna' go get myself some more on Mysteria."

Seppuku stared at him with a look of confusion, then shook negatively, "Yeah, well, that doesn't look like a shotgun blow to the head, so…"

Seppuku finally walked over to Mighty Gazelle, who was holding a white shiny smg. Seppuku ran his finger across the barrel of the gun and nodded, "A robot likely has good accuracy-I bet you're a sure-shot…"

Earl raised his finger up, "Actually Lieutenant, he's not a robot, he's a cyborg-there's a big difference."

Seppuku quirked his mouth and looked up at Gazelle's face, "Ammo check?"

The cyborg looked down at him, "This weapon is run on energy, the head of the enemy would have been burnt-that man was shot by a bullet."

Seppuku observed the smg closely and nodded, realizing that it didn't have an ammo clip, "Good, that's everyone."

Seppuku then turned back towards the body, "Now, I'll admit-that was just for fun, now let's actually figure out who did this." Seppuku pointed at Dr. Stewart, "Get the bullet out of his head."

Stewart nodded and got down by the body, immediately pulling out various sharp tools. Chiya cringed at the sight of Dr. Stewart making an incision on the dead man's skull. Bart crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Seppuku.

"What about you?"

Seppuku smirked at him, "No need, because I didn't do it."

Everyone in the room then began to complain-including Chiya and Earl.

"That's not fair!" Chiya shouted.

Dr. Stewart wrapped the bullet around in a white cloth and momentarily stepped up, bringing the bullet over to Seppuku. Seppuku chuckled as he began to open the cloth up.

"Now let's see who committed this murd-" Seppuku grunted and remained perfectly still, "Wait, huh?"

He picked the bullet out of the cloth and brought it up closer to his face-he was holding a golden looking bullet with diamonds surrounding the base. Seppuku grunted and dipped his head down in confusion.

"Wait, no one in this room had this kind of bullet in their gun…"

Bart and Dr. Stewart looked over his shoulder and hummed in confusion, Seppuku then rolled the bullet over and found two black cursive letters.

"D.G.?" Seppuku read in confusion.

The bullet was clearly expensive, but no one in the room had enough money to afford diamond covered bullets. Seppuku pointed his finger and looked around the room, "D.G. Who has those initials?"

No one responded, Chiya and Earl looked at each other, then back at Seppuku. Seppuku momentarily sighed and handed the bullet to Dr. Stewart, "None of us here did it, someone else killed him…"

Everyone began looking around the room for anyone else with a gun, none were in the area. Seppuku stomped his foot down, "Damn, without a lead…"

About an hour later, Seppuku, Chiya, and Earl stood in the cargo bay. Chiya stood motionlessly against the window with Earl, her heat was beating rapidly as she held his hand more tightly-they were entering Mysteria's atmosphere. Chiya began to hyperventilate and shook his head constantly.

"This is bad, this is bad…" she muttered fearfully.

Earl wrapped his arm around her, "Don't worry Chiya, we're tackling this together-you helped me with my problems, now I help you with yours."

Chiya widened her eyes as the planet surface was momentarily visible, she gasped in amazement at the planet she was once so familiar with-it was nothing like she remembered. Chiya began to bite on her finger frantically as she looked down at the city known as New Edinburgh. Chiya began to bounce up and down with a frightened look.

"I'm scared Earl!"

"We die together-only we won't be dying any time soon."

Chiya fell back into his arms and exhaled loudly, she looked up at the clock on the wall and swallowed nervously, "We were suppose to be here ten minutes ago, now I'm late to meet this person…"

Earl shrugged, "Whatever, I'm sure Jody just wants you to pick up something for her."

Seppuku approached the two and grabbed both their shoulders, "Flower, I scanned the map-there is a set of mountains about twenty miles out of New Ediburgh, we'll set up base camp there."

Chiya exhaled and nodded, "Great."

Earl raised an eyebrow, "How are we suppose to find Michael Chain? We have no idea where he even is."

Seppuku shrugged, "You and me will figure that out, Chiya needs to stay hidden."

Chiya widened her eyes and exhaled again, momentarily startled by the gentle thump of the ship landing. _Oh my God, I'm here, I'm back, I'm home!_ she panicked in her mind. The cargo bay door momentarily began to open, the loading ramp hit the ground roughly-Chiya took a simple smell of the air, immediately recognizing the scent of her home planet.

"Wow…" she muttered.

Earl grabbed her hand and looked up at Seppuku, "So are we driving to the mountains right now then?"

"No, Chiya needs to meet this bastard Jody set her up with," he then tilted his fedora, "The transport can't leave until tomorrow morning anyways, Mysterian soldiers have to do an inspection of the ship first-so we can come back for the F-Zero machines whenever."

Chiya swallowed nervously and nodded, "O- okay, I guess we should…" Earl then rubbed his forehead and glanced away from Chiya for a moment, "We should uh, get…"

Earl then quickly kissed her cheek and turned red moments after, Chiya gasped and widened her eyes. Seppuku smirked at the two and shook negatively. Chiya then cleared her throat and began to blush.

"Okay, let's go."

The three then proceeded to move down the ramp together, two armed Mysterian soldiers were standing next to the starport door. Chiya widened her eyes and hid her face from the soldiers, preparing for them to start firing at her at any moment. _If I'm recognized by anyone, I'm done for…_ she thought fearfully. The three managed to get past the soldiers without any issues, she then opened her eyes and exhaled in relief. They now entered the starport lobby and stood at the entrance.

"Where to?" asked Seppuku.

Chiya raised the paper she was given up and began to look over it, "U-um…"

Seppuku and Earl stared at Chiya as she looked for the meeting place, it was at that moment that a blonde haired woman began to approach them from across the lobby. Seppuku raised his fedora up at the woman and smirked, he elbowed Earl and began to chuckle.

"Hey Bendek, check out that MILF."

Earl looked up at the woman and immediately raised an eyebrow, "Holy crap, that woman, she looks just like…"

Chiya glanced up at the woman and widened her eyes, dropping the paper onto the ground while trembling.

"M- Mom…"

To be continued…


	46. Lap 45

==Lap 45=

Chiya, Earl, and Seppuku stood completely still. Chiya had a frozen look on her face, her teeth tightly gritted together as she faced her mother at long last. Earl found himself trembling somewhat as well, he was just as surprised at this occurrence-he had assumed that they would be meeting her mother while on Mysteria, just not this quickly. Chiya's lip began to quiver as she made slight grunting noises of disbelief, Earl momentarily smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.

"M- mom…" she muttered again.

The woman known as Fiona Flower stood motionlessly as well, she had a frozen stare as she looked into Chiya's eyes. The woman had the exact same hair as Chiya, was wearing a pink sweater, and soft blue pants. The significant difference between Fiona and Chiya was that she had a more aged look on her face. Both were about the same height-which wasn't the case when Chiya had left.

Seppuku tapped his fingers around his arm impatiently, waiting for either of the two to greet each other. Earl continued to pat Chiya's shoulder with a smile, Chiya momentarily exhaled and eased up slightly. Fiona's mouth momentarily began to quiver, turning into a smile within seconds.

"Chiya…" Fiona held her cheek in awe as she stared at her daughter, "You- you're a woman now."

Chiya's eyes immediately began to water, momentarily smiling back at her, "Y- yes, I'm a much different person now…"

Fiona exhaled and nodded, "I'm just overjoyed that you turned out alright…"

Chiya crossed her hands over her heart and nodded, "Yes, I lead a very happy life now, one full of adventures…"

Fiona put her hands together, "You look much like your father, I presume you succeeded in becoming a mechanic?"

Chiya grunted and dipped her head down sadly, "N- not exactly…"

Fiona raised an eyebrow and glanced at Earl and Seppuku a few times, "Then, what did you end up doing?"

Chiya widened her eyes and momentarily rubbed the back of her head, "We-ell, it's a very strange job, I usually get paid up front though for my services," she then smiled and held her hand out towards Seppuku, "This is Seppuku, my boss."

Fiona gasped and widened her eyes, noticing Chiya's skimpy looking shorts, Seppuku's fedora and coat, and the gun he had on his back. Fiona sighed and dipped her head down, "Oh Chiya, after all I told you about the horrors of prostitution, you went and did it?"

Chiya and Earl both gasped, Chiya had a disturbed grin on her face with lowered eyebrows, "Wha- wait what? No!"

Seppuku then chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder, "That's right, I'm Chiya's pimp-the main Mac daddy of Mute City. Chiya's the best hooker I've ever had in ma' organization yo'" he joked.

Chiya gasped and shook negatively quickly, "That's not true! We're not a pimping organization!"

Fiona raised an eyebrow at her, "Organization? Like, a pet shelter?"

Seppuku began to laugh loudly at the question, Chiya then closed her eyes and dipped her head down. Fiona lowered her eyebrows in frustration at Seppuku, Chiya rubbed her chin while trying to think how she could explain this. _I don't think I should tell mom about some of the stuff I've been through-but I certainly don't want her thinking that I'm some slutty hooker…_ she then cleared her throat and looked back up at Fiona.

"I belong to a three-person undercover police group."

Fiona widened her eyes, "A police group?"

Earl smirked and nodded, "Police group, that rolls off the tongue much better than a vigilante group."

"A vigilante group!?" Fiona panicked.

Chiya narrowed her eyes at Earl with a slight grin, "Thanks, Earl…"

Chiya then lowered her eyebrows and scanned the room with a look of confusion, "Wait, who are we meeting here?"

Seppuku smirked, "If I had to guess, I'd say that we're talking to the person right now."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at Seppuku, then gasped and looked back at Fiona, "Mom, are you the person Jody Summer wanted me to meet?"

Fiona nodded affirmatively, "It wasn't easy from what I heard, but yes, the Federation made contact with me a bit ago and established that you may want to see me again after six years."

Chiya nodded and looked around the room some more, she then narrowed her eyes fearfully, "Where's Abby?"

Fiona got a serious look on her face and sighed, momentarily looking down at the floor, "Oh, she's not here anymore I'm afraid…"

Chiya and Earl both gasped, Chiya instantly fell into Earl's arms and began to whimper sadly. "Oh my God…" she muttered in shock. Chiya immediately began to shake her head in disbelief, "No, no, no, I- I can't believe it, how could this have happened?"

Earl wrapped his arms around Chiya and crossed his neck with hers, "Chiya, I'm so, so, sorry…"

Chiya held her face, likely about to cry, "W- when did it happen mom?"

Fiona looked at her and closed her eyes, "Last year, she turned eighteen, so I decided that her time had come…"

All three then gasped and widened their eyes at her, Chiya instantly began to tremble and grunted in disbelief, "W- what!?"

Fiona nodded, "You have to understand my position, the Flower famil-"

"That- that's just sickening!" Earl lashed out at her.

Chiya nodded in agreement, "I loved Abby! She was my best friend, how could you kill her!?"

Fiona gasped and took a step back, "Woah wait, kill? No, no, I snuck her on an embassy ship like I did for you."

Chiya grunted and stepped out of Earl's arms, "Wait, so she's not on Mysteria anymore?"

Fiona nodded, "I was trying to get her on a ship heading for Mute City, in hopes that she would track you down-but I ended up sending her to Sand Ocean."

Chiya stomped her foot down angrily, "God dammit, we were just on Sand Ocean a few months ago."

Fiona narrowed her eyes furiously at Chiya, "What the- where did you pick up that language!?"

Chiya widened her eyes and swallowed, she quickly pointed at Seppuku. Seppuku looked down at her finger, then back up at Fiona. Fiona narrowed her eyes at Seppuku and gritted her teeth.

"I suppose he's also gotten you drunk, high, and plowed a few times too?"

Seppuku made a grunting sound, then stomped his foot down, Chiya immediately widened her eyes in response and grabbed Seppuku's arm. "Okay, okay! Just let it go Seppuku…" she instructed calmly. Seppuku stared at Fiona intensely, Chiya rubbed his hand, trying to keep him calm, "Just let it go…"

Seppuku nodded, "Shut the Hell up you old hag."

Fiona and Earl both gasped, Chiya widened her eyes and let out a heavy gasp. She then flailed her hands up in the air at him, "That's not what I meant by _let it go_!"

Fiona growled at Seppuku, then looked back down at Chiya, "You have a fairly rude friend…"

Chiya closed her eyes uncomfortably and smiled, "Oh, you haven't seen him when he gets angry…"

Fiona crossed her arms together and quirked her mouth, "Well anyways, I have the car out back, I imagine you three will want a place to stay."

Chiya grunted and widened her eyes, "Do we still have the same old home?"

Fiona nodded, "Yes, your room is just as you left it."

Seppuku crossed his arms together, "You and Bendek go with her, I'll stick back and get the F-Zero machines in a safe place."

Fiona then widened her eyes and smirked, "That's right! You're an F-Zero racer now!"

Chiya gleefully nodded, "Let's talk about that at home," she then exhaled, "I'm homesick…"

A while later, Earl and Chiya came up to a very small house out in the country-it was very simple looking. Earl and Chiya both gazed at the house in amazement, it was Earl's first time seeing Chiya's house, and Chiya's first time in six years. Chiya sighed as she looked at Fiona.

"The last time I saw this house, you were taking me to the starport…"

Fiona nodded, "But tell me Chiya, in the end, was I right to send you away?"

Earl looked at Chiya and raised an eyebrow, Chiya tapped her cheek a few times-but hesitantly nodded, "Yes, I ended up with money, friends, an F-Zero machine, and new hobbies, I even got my own cat now."

Fiona smiled, "Name?"

"Mauser."

Fiona closed her eyes and chuckled, "Germanic, of course…"

Earl quirked his mouth, "Oh, that's German? I assumed Mauser was the name of an ice cream or something."

Chiya puckered her lips and looked back at Earl, "That's my best friend, Earl Bendek, he's the greatest guy in the world, can fix everything, buys me ice cream, can probably do a hundred pushups-"

Fiona turned her head back at Earl, "How's his manners?"

Earl was a bit shy to answer for himself, simply looking at Chiya for help, "Earl is Korean and follows and honor system, he's sworn off with the idea that if I die-he dies too."

Fiona raised an eyebrow and smirked at Earl, "Korean eh? Did Chiya tell you about our vacation to Korea?"

Earl widened his eyes, Chiya gasped and rubbed the back of her head, "Our vacation to Korea?"

"Yes."

"When?"

Fiona parked the car in front of the house and stretched her neck back, "Oh, perhaps when you were five…"

Earl cleared his throat, "What city did you visit?"

"Pusan."

Both Chiya and Earl gasped, "What!?" they both spat out in disbelief.

Fiona opened the door and stepped out of the car with the two, she nodded at Earl and smiled, "Chiya's father was instructed to teach a class in Pusan about Socialism, so me, him, and Chiya took a vacation there," she then looked at Chiya, "We were, of course, being watched the entire time by Mysterian soldiers."

Earl walked over by Chiya and chuckled, "Wow, I was born and raised in Pusan, I would have been nine years old at the time…"

Chiya smiled at Earl playfully, "Wonder if we had met before then."

Fiona shrugged, "We weren't allowed to venture out around Pusan, however, so I somehow doubt that."

Chiya frowned, but smirked again momentarily, "Eh, still a pretty amazing coincidence."

The three approached the door to the house moments later, Earl's mouth was locked open in awe as he observed his surroundings. The property did not appear very well maintained, the house was small, several vehicle parts were scatted on the ground, and a fairly poor shed was out in the back. Fiona opened the door slowly and walked inside, Chiya closely followed her, but Earl remained outside with a slack-jawed look. Chiya peeked around the corner of the door and raised an eyebrow at Earl.

"You coming?"

Earl grunted and looked back at her, then nodded, "Yeah."

The two then entered the house together, Earl immediately widened his eyes and gasped as he took one simple look at the interior. The rooms were very primitive looking, like a 20th century house. Chiya crossed her arms together and quirked her mouth as she looked around the entrance of her house, instantly taken back by childhood memories.

"I know you said you were poor Chiya, but this…"

"That's why I feel like a princess living in Seppuku's base."

Earl smirked at her and nodded, not wanting to offend her by insulting the Flower home. What Chiya said was true, compared to the house they were in, Seppuku's base was practically a penthouse. Earl momentarily pulled out a small device from his belt, Chiya gasped as he pressed on it-it was a tracking device.

"Wait, you and Seppuku have tracking devices?" Earl nodded affirmatively, "Why haven't you gotten me a new one? That thing had gotten me outta' a lot of situations before."

"How about when we get back to Earth, I agree though, I want you to always have a tracking device on you."

Fiona came back to the entrance and yawned, "Forget where the kitchen is Chiya?"

Chiya turned towards her with a shocked look, still amazed that she was back in her house with her mother, "Oh, of course I know, mom."

The three continue through a doorway and entered the small kitchen, Earl was hesitantly following Chiya. Fiona sat down at the table and stretched her arms, Chiya instantly froze and began to tremble at the sight of the table. Earl stopped to the side of her and looked up at her, he raised an eyebrow at her as she gritted her teeth at the table.

"Something wrong, dear?" asked Fiona.

Chiya hesitated to answer her, but momentarily nodded, "Th- that table, you kept it after all these years?"

Fiona raised an eyebrow at her, "It's a good table your father made ten years ago, why would we throw it out?"

Chiya then gasped as she could see a chipped part of the table, a bullet hole just slightly visible. She was immediately stunned as images of her dead father laying on the table entered her mind. Chiya positioned her hands as if she were holding a rifle, she then began to tremble and hyperventilate softly. Earl and Fiona both looked at her hands and widened their eyes.

"Oh dear…" Fiona muttered.

Earl quickly wrapped his hand around her, "Wo-oah, woah, just chill, Chiya."

Chiya gritted her teeth and tightly shut her eyes, "I- I had assumed you would throw that table out, because of the bad memories…"

Fiona sighed and looked down at the bullet hole, "Me and Abby debated a few times if we should throw it out, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it," she then sighed and tapped her fingers down a few times, "It's a gravestone, Chiya."

Chiya's mouth began to quiver as she quickly collapsed into one of the chairs, exhaling momentarily, "Sorry mom, it's just…" she slowly raised her head up with a sad look, "This is a very emotional moment for me, and I can't stay here, not with that bounty on me, and the restraini-"

"Chiya, your criminal records were wiped last year."

Chiya and Earl both gasped, Chiya shook her head negatively, "What? No, that's impossible."

Fiona nodded, "Your Mysterian records are clean now, your crimes, bounty, and restraining order with me were erased from the database."

Earl silently sat down at the table and rubbed his chin, Chiya lowered her eyebrows and shook negatively, "I can't believe that, it just doesn't sound right…"

Fiona nodded, "I agree, Mysteria has never done anything like this before, which makes it especially strange…"

"This happened a year ago?" asked Chiya.

"Yes, less than a year ago actually, one day your records just disappeared-I wasn't even informed about this."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and held her forehead, she began to tap her fingers down on the table as she contemplated about this matter. Fiona continued to stare at Chiya, then smiled, she was just happy to see Chiya well and alive. Fiona crossed her hands over her heart and closed her eyes.

"You're such a beautiful woman now, Chiya." Chiya looked up at her and smiled, she then stopped thinking about the criminal records and sat up straight, "But you're still wearing the same clothes you did six years ago! Are you even washing your clothes? Why haven't you bought something more girlish? How much money are you making?"

Chiya widened her eyes and scratched her head, "U-uh…"

Earl turned his head around towards the wall and raised an eyebrow at a few photos that were hung on the wall. There were a few family photos, a high school photo of Chiya and Abby, but one caught his eyes most of all. He grunted at a photo of Chiya in her soccer uniform with her foot on a soccer ball-though this was a photo of Chiya as an eighteen year old.

"Hot damn…" Earl muttered.

Fiona glanced over at Earl and smiled, then looking back at Chiya, "How did you and Earl meet each other?"

Earl quickly jolted his head back towards the two with a surprised look, Chiya smiled at Earl, "It's a long story, let's just say, we've been working together for a year now and have gone through a lot together."

Earl nodded and lowered his eyebrows, "I'm the one who built the Purring Kitten for her."

Fiona beamed at him and nodded, "So you're the one who turned my little mechanic into a racer!"

Earl smiled back at her proudly, "That's rig-"

"Shame on you, F-Zero is a dangerous sport, how could you even dare put her in such a life threatening scenario?"

Earl widened his eyes and swallowed, "Well, u-uh…"

"No mom, I've always wanted to be an F-Zero racer, it wasn't his fault," Fiona then swished her head back at Chiya, "I'm sorry if you wanted me to be a mechanic, but this is the life I have chosen."

Fiona grunted and shook negatively, "Oh, sweetie I was kidding, I'm glad Earl got you an F-Zero machine."

Earl exhaled and melted away in his chair more. Fiona smirked at Chiya and crossed her arms together, "You realize this entire planet idolizes you, right?"

Chiya and Earl both gasped, "Wh- what?"

"That's right, you can't enter a single city on this planet without seeing Chiya Flower endorsements."

Earl immediately chuckled and gave Chiya a thumbs up, Chiya beamed at Fiona and clapped her hands together, "That's awesome!"

Fiona nodded, "Though it's not all that good…" she puckered her lips and shrugged at Chiya, "You also have assisted the sex industry greatly with their Chiya Flower dolls and toys."

Chiya's smile momentarily began to quiver, she then held her stomach and groaned, "That news isn't settling in my stomach very well…"

Earl was glancing away from Chiya while rubbing the back of his head, "When you say _dolls_, are we talking life sized, or-r…"

Chiya then gasped, taking complete offense from this. She slapped Earl roughly across the face, sending him right off his chair. Fiona gasped and held her hand out towards Chiya, "Chiya!"

Chiya looked down at Earl on the floor and chuckled, "Don't worry, he's used to it by now…"

About an hour later, Chiya and Earl stood together outside of the house. Earl frowned and held Chiya's hand as a lone tear went down her cheek, her hair was slightly moving as a gentle breeze had picked up. Chiya had a look that indicated that she was bottling up her emotions again. Chiya then began to whimper, momentarily throwing herself into Earl. He grunted and patted the back of her head passionately as he looked down at a gravestone-her father's gravestone.

"Thank you, thank you so much for getting me here…" she muttered.

Earl gritted his teeth, "I wasn't the one who got you here, you should be thanking Seppuku."

Chiya hesitated to answer, momentarily shaking her head negatively, "No, you're wrong, you are the organization, Seppuku's just the boss…"

Earl stared at the thick layer of fog that surrounded them, biting his lip as he continued to brush her hair. Chiya then slowly looked up into his eyes with watery eyes. Earl raised an eyebrow at her and stopped brushing her hair.

"Earl, I l- …" she began to grunt with quivering eyes, Earl lowered his eyebrows in confusion as Chiya struggled to finish her sentence.

Chiya momentarily glanced away from him and sighed, then looked down at the gravestone while still in his arms.

Seppuku and Fiona were now together at the table, both were observing the two from the window. Fiona frowned and made a saddened sigh, she looked over at Seppuku with a frown.

"Tell me, Lieutenant, are those two-"

Seppuku nodded affirmatively, "Yes."

Fiona slightly smiled and looked back at the two, watching as Earl continued to brush her hair. Fiona exhaled and dipped her head down with a heart warmed look, "Mr. Earl isn't a womanizer, is he?"

Seppuku stared at Earl for a few moments, then shook his head negatively, "No, he's about the nicest guy you can find," he crossed his arms together and smirked at the emotional sight of the two, "Put two lonely people with dark pasts together in a vigilante group, and you get that."

"Does he have any bad addictions?"

Seppuku nodded, "He's an alcoholic at night."

Fiona lowered her eyebrows, "That can't be, Chiya always went on about how she could never become affectionate for anyone who drinks alcohol."

"He hasn't gotten mad intoxicated in a year now, he's been trying very hard to stay sober in front of her, you know…" he smirked at the saddened Chiya, "So he doesn't scare her."

Fiona frowned again and sighed, "I wish this reunion could have been more enjoyable for Chiya, I should've known she would dig right in to her father…"

"Especially since she killed him."

Fiona held her forehead and nodded, "So stupid, I should've just done it myself-instead I doomed Chiya to a life-"

"She's an F-Zero racer, has a great guy, and seems to be happy for the most part, how is this not a better life?"

She mumbled something to herself as she looked outside again, she then moved her eyes towards Seppuku, "You're certain that Earl is good for her?"

Chiya then collapsed onto the ground and began crying, Earl immediately got down with her and held her more tightly. Seppuku quirked his mouth as he watched Chiya break down. He nodded affirmatively and hummed with a look of intrigue.

"That must have been one amazing daddy."

Fiona sighed and tapped her fingers down, "Sure, I guess…"

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, "That doesn't sound like something a loyal wife would say."

Fiona dipped her head down and sighed, "Lieutenant…" she swallowed and looked back out at Chiya sadly-who was still crying, "The spark had went out years before her dad died."

Seppuku chuckled, "Juicy information…"

"Don't tell Chiya this, please."

"Why didn't you divorce him then?"

Fiona held her cheek and shook negatively, "Us Flowers have always been big on the romance, I jumped into marriage way too quickly…" she then looked back out at the two, "I fear Chiya may do the same if she's not careful."

"Tell me more…"

Fiona lowered her eyebrows at him, "Well, he was way too radical with his political beliefs, and he was trying to push his failing ideas onto us, so yes, I got tired of him-I wanted a romantic marriage."

Seppuku smirked, "You still do?"

Fiona grunted and lowered her eyebrows, "Uh, well…" she then rubbed the back of her head as she looked at Chiya, "Maybe not marriage, but I sure wouldn't mind getting the thrills of romance again." Fiona held her forehead and sighed, "It would break Chiya's heart if I got remarried."

Seppuku nodded affirmatively, "Interesting…"

Fiona sighed, "I'm only forty-four after all…"

"Really? I thought you were still in your thirties."

Fiona raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, "Bless your heart, Lieutenant."

Chiya and Earl had begun walking away from the gravestone and moved towards the door to the house. Earl glanced over at the shed and raised an eyebrow, "Is that the workshop you were talking about?"

Chiya nodded and wiped her eyes, "Yes, that's where I used to work with dad."

Earl opened the door for her, she quickly stepped inside and brushed her arms along her shirt. Earl closed the door behind him and followed her back to the kitchen, he ran up next to Chiya and looked down at her face.

"So where's your room -?"

Both Chiya and Earl gasped at the sight of Seppuku in the kitchen, Earl then smirked, "Oh, when did you get here?"

"The Lieutenant came a few minutes ago."

Chiya moved over to the table and sat down, Earl sat down next to Seppuku and blinked a few times at Fiona. Earl cleared his throat and looked up at Fiona, "You know, if you're light-handed right now, I'm sure me and Seppuku could help."

Fiona smiled and nodded, "That's sweet of you, but I have to save every single Mysterop I can get my hands on."

Chiya raised an eyebrow, "Geez mom, I know dad was the provider of the family, but are you hinting that you're making nothing at all?"

"Loan sharks."

Earl widened his eyes at her and let out a heavy sigh, "Loan sharks, trust me, I've dealt with them before-not a fun process…"

"Wh- what do you mean loan sharks?" asked Chiya.

Fiona sighed, "I had no where to turn, I had debts I needed to pay-so I took out a loan from a man known as Don Genie."

Earl and Seppuku both gasped, Chiya widened her eyes in horror at the two's reaction to the name. Earl slammed his fist down, "Don Genie? He's real!?"

Seppuku smirked, "Yep, he's a real person."

Earl covered his mouth in disbelief, "Us gamblers assumed he was just a travelers tale…"

Fiona nodded, "I took the money from him, and I was sure that I could pay him back in time-but I was wrong…" she then sighed, "So I took out a legal loan to pay Don Genie back with, but I just couldn't get enough…"

Chiya was trembling as she told the dark story, Fiona tapped her fingers together and sighed, "I ended up filing for bankruptcy, but now I'm still stuck with this bloody debt that is too high to repay."

"Mom, how much money did you take from him?" Chiya demanded with a serious face.

Fiona's eyes began to water, she then face palmed and glanced down, "Two billion Mytserops…"

Everyone at the table gasped, Chiya shook her head negatively, "Oh no-o…"

"How much is that in credits?" asked Earl.

"Equivalent to about eight-hundred thousand Federation credits," answered Seppuku.

Earl widened his eyes and exhaled, "Oh boy, we're really gonna' have to race hard…"

"Don Genie is taking advantage of the situation though, he cut me a new deal-if I pay him everything I earn by the end of each month, he cuts me some slack."

Chiya bit her lip, "Wh- what if you fail to pay him one month?"

Fiona dragged her finger across her neck, "Dead."

Earl slammed his fist down with an angry look, "Don't worry Ms. Flower, we'll get you out of this debt!" he then looked at Chiya and Seppuku with a determined look, Chiya had a look of doubt on her face. Earl grunted at her and looked up at Seppuku, "Right?"

Seppuku rubbed his chin and looked back at Fiona, "Fiona, do you know anything about the man known as Michael Cha-"

"Michael Chain?"

Earl and Chiya both gasped, Chiya slammed her hands down and leaned towards her, "You know Michael Chain!?"

Fiona nodded, "He's a sweet man."

Chiya widened her eyes, "Wh- what!?"

Earl and Seppuku both had disgusted looks on their faces, Fiona nodded at Chiya, "He worked with Don Genie as well-only he paid his debt off right away."

Earl shook negatively, "Sweet man? He tried killing Ch-"

Chiya flailed her hand at Earl and lowered her eyebrows, "Where's Chain, mom?"

Fiona frowned, "Oh, don't hurt him, he's such a nice man…"

Seppuku growled at her and crossed his arms together, "Do you realize what he used to do? Do you understand that he is the sole reason Chiya is with me today?"

Fiona raised an eyebrow at him, "So, he helped my daughter get a better life?"

Chiya grunted and lowered her eyebrows, she then looked up at Seppuku. Seppuku hesitated to respond, he momentarily quirked his mouth, "So you say he was working with Don Genie?" Fiona nodded, Seppuku then smirked, "Maybe we can help each other out then…"

Earl looked up at Seppuku suspiciously, Chiya raised an eyebrow at him. Seppuku then smirked, "To me, it sounds like we have our first lead," he then pointed at Chiya, "If we find Don Genie, we find Michael Chain."

Earl gasped and rubbed his forehead, "Are you actually suggesting that we bring down an entire mafia?"

Fiona shook negatively at Seppuku, clearly in opposition to this plan, Seppuku then looked at Chiya, "That depends, do you love your mother?"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "Y- yes, she's all I have left…"

Seppuku then crossed his arms together, "Then we have an initial plan tomorrow."

"P- please, I don't want you three risking your skin for me, I'm getting through this debt alright…"

Chiya put her hand on Fiona's shoulder, Fiona then gritted her teeth and looked down at her, "Mom, you took great care of me, now let me take care of you."

Fiona's eyes began to water as Earl then put his hand on her other shoulder, "We can do this Ms. Flower, me and Chiya are an unstoppable team."

Fiona stood up and growled, "No! Wha- what is this? You think you can just kill anyone you like suddenly!?"

"Yes," Seppuku answered.

"No, but this is a matter of survival," answered Chiya.

Fiona then lowered her eyebrows angrily, "I can't believe this, what kind of daughter have you become?"

Chiya then smirked at her, "The wild kind…"

To be continued…


	47. Lap 46

==Lap 46=

It was now late at night, the group had continued telling stories the entire day. Fiona had earlier in the day revealed that she was in debt with a mafia organization run by Don Genie, a gangster renowned for his wealth and stealth-and obesity. Rumor has it that Don Genie has an F-Zero machine of his own and possesses an F-Zero license, though the Federation neither confirms or denies this. The three had decided that the best way to track down Michael Chain was to find Don Genie, though Chiya approved of this mission for an entirely different reason; which was to help her mom get back on track.

Earl and Chiya were together in a very small and dark room. The TV was all that lit up the room, providing a bright blue glow to the room as Earl stared at the small primitive looking TV set. Both Chiya and Earl were on a very small bed together, clearly only fit for one person-Earl simply held Chiya close to his body as they were both facing the TV. Despite the low availability of places to sleep, he still found himself guilty of preferring to sleep with Chiya on a small bed, than on the floor. Earl of course, was somewhat fearful of the moment going somewhere, as they _were_ both touching bodies on a small bed. Earl felt somewhat relieved however, understanding that both were too tired-he could safely assume that Chiya would only sleep beside him, not try and get intimate with him.

The commercial break had ended and a female military officer was on the TV in front of a Mysterian banner. She held her arm up in the air with a gleeful smile, "We hope you are enjoying this military approved program; long live the Mysterian Empire and her majesty!" the officer said with a gleeful smile.

Earl lowered his eyebrows and shook negatively, "That's ridiculous, can't we just watch a show without being pestered by the military?"

Chiya didn't respond, simply laying still in the exact same position-Earl's arms still wrapped around her waist. Earl gritted his teeth and glanced away from the back of her head.

"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I guess I should understand that this isn't like Japan or Korea-this is an empire after all…" Chiya still didn't respond to him, continuing to lay facing the TV, Earl widened his eyes and face palmed, "Geez, I'm sorry if I'm sounding like an ass right now, trust me, I have nothing against Mysteria, I think in a cultural way-it's a pretty damn majestic planet."

Chiya made a grunting sound and then mumbled something, Earl raised an eyebrow at her-momentarily rubbing her stomach, "Believe it or not, Korea still possesses a fair amount of military involvement with the community, would you believe that me and my battalion got to drive our tanks down a parade?" Earl waited with a smile for her response, he moments later widened his eyes and sighed, "Okay, look, if I did something to offend you, I'm sorry, I'm hoping we can go explore this planet a little tomorrow, maybe see if your mom speaks the truth about these several endorsements." Earl then began to chuckle, "Must feel nice being one of the most talked about racers on the planet, I'm sure many people will want your autograph if we go into any city-how about that for a life?"

Earl waited a few moments for a response, but still got nothing out of Chiya. He narrowed his eyes and growled, "Okay, really?"

He then leaned over her and looked at her face, he then grunted and sighed out of embarrassment. Chiya was completely locked away in a deep slumber. Earl face palmed and momentarily brought her blanket up to both their bodies. He pushed the blanket under her and slightly wrapped it around himself as well. He momentarily lowered his head and pressed it against Chiya's back, closing his eyes as he snuggled with her. He smiled momentarily and shrugged.

"I guess as long as you let me keep tucking you in, I'm fine with you not being some late night party girl…"

Earl then turned his head towards the ceiling and immediately began to doze off, the last thing he could hear was the very soft snore of Chiya Flower.

Many hours later, Earl began to wake up-only something was wrong, he was having troubles breathing. Earl slowly opened his eyes and grunted in confusion, _Why can't I breathe..?_ he worried. Earl could still hear Chiya snoring softly, but he was unable to see her anywhere-in fact, all he could see was the color grey. Earl moved his eyes around constantly but could only see grey, no matter where he looked. _Where am I? Where's Chiya?_ he panicked. He then moved his hands around aimlessly, momentarily feeling the smooth skin on her arm. He lowered his eyebrows and continued to run his finger up her arm, coming closer to his face. He touched her shoulder and immediately widened his eyes, realizing where he was. Earl's face immediately began to glow red in complete embarrassment-he could now see a slope on each side of his face. _Oh God, what do I do? I can't just…_ Earl widened his eyes and trembled, trying to figure out how to get Chiya off of him without her viewing him as some kind of pervert.

Earl tried to stay calm and exhaled, not moving a muscle in his face-his face was right in her cleavage. Earl slowly moved his hand up towards her face and tapped her forehead a few times. Chiya immediately responded by making a few grunting sounds, Earl continued to glow red, then tapped her head more roughly. Chiya momentarily growled and shook her head.

"Huh?" she asked in a dazed tone.

Earl then began to fake snore, acting as if he were not awake. Chiya slowly opened her eyes and looked to her left, not finding Earl anywhere. She blinked a few times in shock, then looked back at her door-but this was closed. She then gasped as she heard Earl make another fake snore. She immediately looked down and found Earl's face under her breasts. Chiya let out a slight squeal and covered her mouth with a startled look, _Oops!_ she panicked. She then slowly lifted herself up and got off the bed, Earl opened his eyes momentarily and looked at her.

"Oh, morning already? I guess we ju-"

"Earl, you're face is as red as Satan, I'm pretty sure you weren't sleeping…"

Earl gasped and widened his eyes, "Bu- but, I wasn't the one who-"

Chiya nodded, "Yes, I'm sorry, this is why I like bigger beds…"

Earl sighed with a perverse smile and nodded, "Alright, well no problem…"

Chiya puckered her lips with a challenging look, "No problem? You had boobies in your face! Of course there was no problem on your part."

Seppuku was standing around the kitchen with Fiona, both were staring at each other with intense looks. Fiona momentarily sighed and dipped her head with a distraught look.

"So you mean…"

Seppuku nodded, "Your daughter would've been raped if it weren't for me-I did what was right and intervened."

Fiona let out a long sigh and fell back down onto a chair, "Wow, that makes me feel even more terrible for sending her off…"

Seppuku crossed his arms, "She was sexually assaulted again by a massive group of prison inmates, but I killed all but one of them." Fiona widened her eyes and gritted her teeth at this, Seppuku then quirked his mouth, "It's the reason Michael Chain escaped, I could've just quickly located and killed him before he escaped-but I decided to go back for Chiya instead."

The two remained silent for a few moments, Fiona continued to hold her forehead in shame. Seppuku momentarily decided to break the dark moment and reveal a smile.

"I forgot to tell you, that pasta you made this morning was excellent."

Fiona glanced up at him and smiled, "Thank you Lieutenant."

Seppuku smirked and crossed his arms, "Much better than Bendek's cooking, and _definitely_ better than Chiya's."

Fiona smirked, "We put Chiya in charge of making Abby's birthday cake once…" Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her as she then began to chuckle, "We never asked Chiya to bake again after that…"

"Burnt?"

Fiona sighed while smiling, "Well, she put pepper inside of it…"

Seppuku grinned and shook negatively, "Though she gets on my nerves all the time, you raised a real funny girl-she makes my organization feel like a real family."

"You're welcome Lieutenant."

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, "Just call me _Seppuku_, lieutenant was my Federation rank-which I am no longer a part of."

Fiona licked her lips and dipped her head down, "So-o…" Seppuku sat back down around the table and leaned forward, "So is there a Mrs. Sepp-"

"Morning mom!" Chiya yelled while gleefully charging into the kitchen.

Fiona smiled at Chiya as she instantly leaped at her and hugged her. Seppuku stared at Chiya as she tightly hugged her mother, then smirked at her.

"What's up Chiya? I expected you to act this way yesterday, why so cheery today?"

Chiya momentarily let go of Fiona and smiled back at Seppuku, "I was so stunned yesterday, I only just realized today that I'm finally home again."

Earl momentarily came walking into the kitchen with a puzzled look, he was scanning the floor constantly, "Where are those dang shoes?"

Fiona waved at Earl, "Your shoes looked dirty, so I went ahead and cleaned them last night."

Earl nodded with a surprised look, "Oh, well thanks."

Fiona swished her hand at him, "Did you sleep well?"

Earl dipped his head down and glanced away from the table, "Well, you could say that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed…"

Chiya then puckered her lips and got up close to Fiona, "He's embarrassed because I rolled on top of him in my sleep-so he woke up with my chest in his face…" she whispered.

Fiona widened her eyes, "Oh, Earl I'm sorry, I can go get Abby's bed from the shed if you want."

Earl smiled and shook negatively, "Nah, I'm good," he then widened his eyes and grunted, "I- I mean, unless Chiya wants me to sleep elsewhere!"

Chiya giggled and shook negatively at him, Seppuku then sighed and crossed his arms together, "Me and Fiona brainstormed and came up with an idea for this Don Genie predicament."

Fiona nodded, "Yes, it's a much better idea than going in and starting a bloody mess," she cleared her throat and looked at Chiya, "Emphasis on _bloody_."

Chiya crossed her arms, "Well, Bloody Hell then," she joked.

"What did you come up with Ms. Flower?" asked Earl.

"What did _we_ come up with," Seppuku corrected, expecting mutual credit for the idea.

"Don Genie is always present at the weekly victory parade march, the first step is to track him down in the parade and stalk him back to his base of operations."

Chiya glanced at Earl and nodded, Seppuku smirked and looked at Chiya, "Then, we disguise Chiya as a man and send her with Earl to affiliate themselves with Don Genie."

Chiya immediately flailed her hands at him, "Disguise me as a man?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?"

Chiya had a quivering large smile and began to flail her hands at her chest, Earl lowered his eyebrows and looked back at Seppuku, "Yeah, no man has breasts that large."

Everyone then looked at Earl, he grunted and lowered his eyebrows, "What? Did I-" he then shot open his eyes and got a disturbed look, immediately looking at Chiya, "I- I mean! Not that you necessarily have…" Earl then swallowed and face palmed.

Fiona chuckled and looked back at Chiya, "Ah, us Flower's are renowned for having large chests, don't feel embarrassed."

Earl removed his hands from his face but refused to look at Chiya-though she had a playful look on her face. Seppuku cleared his throat again with a smirk on his face, "Anyways, to answer your question Chiya, we'll get you a special girdle that pushes against your chest tightly-basically, make you appear flat."

Chiya looked down at her chest and grunted, "That's gonna' be a painful process…"

Seppuku smirked, "I'm sure Bendek will end up helping you out like alw-"

"Okay, lay off me already!" Earl spat out with a red face.

"What about my face and hair?"

Seppuku pointed at Fiona, "Your mom claims that she's good with makeup, can make a shaved looking beard like Earl's."

"My voice?"

Both Fiona and Seppuku dipped their heads down, Seppuku then rubbed the back of his head, "We'll figure that out…"

Fiona rubbed her hands together, "The important thing, is that you locate where he operates at."

"Then we kill em'?" asked Earl.

"Not quite, we decided that you could attempt and steal money from him, all you have to do then is bring it back to me, in which I will pay him off with the stolen money."

"Brilliant," Chiya commented.

"But don't forget the actual mission, while you're up close with him, try and get simple information about Michael Chain-all we need to know is where to find him and we're set."

Chiya put on her jackboots and handed Earl his shoes, which she had found against the wall. Seppuku then threw Chiya the keys to the _Red Dove_, she immediately puckered her lips and looked up at him.

"Hm?"

"You and Bendek can take the Red Dove, the victory parade isn't long from starting."

Earl rolled his eyes, "So you're not taking part in this?"

Seppuku shook negatively, "Don Genie would probably recognize me as an ex-Federation member." He then looked at Fiona, "Besides, me and Fiona have a few more things to discuss."

Chiya bowed to the two and looked at Earl, "Alright, then let's head out!"

Earl nodded, "Right."

The two then went out the door together, leaving Fiona and Seppuku alone in the house. Seppuku watched through the window as the two immediately approached the _Red Dove_, he then looked back at Fiona.

"Anyways, what were you saying about a Mrs. Seppuku?"

Earl and Chiya much later walked down a sidewalk together in New Edinburgh, the city was completely swarmed with people who were attending the parade. Earl was looking around in utter shock, Chiya seemed to brush off the crowd, seeing it as nothing new to her. Chiya glanced over and spotted a group of teenage girls, they were all in matching school uniforms. She closed her eyes and smiled at the happy teenagers.

"I remember when I had to wear stuff like that…"

Earl looked over at the girls and raised an eyebrow, "So you went to an academy or something?"

Chiya shook negatively, "My school just enforced a strict dress code," she then rubbed the back of her head as she walked past the girls, "I see they still do."

Earl then lowered his eyebrows and scanned the area for Don Genie, "If what I did hear about the tales are true, this guy is very large gutted and likes to sport expensive jewelry."

Chiya then laughed and grabbed his hand, "Lighten up, we'll find Don Genie, let's just enjoy the parade."

Earl grunted looked towards the street, the sound of marching music could be heard around the block. Chiya found an open spot near the curb and immediately positioned herself there, Earl stood next to her with a look of awe.

"So this is a military parade?"

Chiya nodded, "My dad made us watch this every week, we just showcase the Mysterian military at its best."

Earl looked back towards the street and widened his eyes at the sight of a marching band coming around the corner. Each marcher was in a Mysterian uniform, wearing large hats with red feathers off the top. Earl gasped in awe and nodded in approval.

"Slick uniforms."

Chiya nodded, the band was playing very patriotic sounding music as they marched. Each person raised their feet high up in the air as they moved, Earl was impressed at the timing each band member had-their legs all went up in the air at the same time, no one was falling behind. Chiya pointed towards the parade with a smile.

"What do you think of that?"

Earl then gasped at the sight of heavy armored tanks hovering down the streets, each tank had protective skirts on the sides and a thick cannon barrel. Tank commanders were proudly saluting off the top of the turret, Earl's eyes began to quiver at the sight of this-instantly being reminded of his days as a young battalion leader.

"Better than your tanks?"

Earl lowered his eyebrows and rubbed his chin, "Well, either that thing shoots something big, or you're really protecting that cannon-on the account that it's so thick looking."

Chiya nodded and watched as the massive tanks drove right past them, Earl managed to run his hand across the steel of a tank as it went by-Chiya then swatted his hand down. "Don't do that."

Earl widened his eyes at Chiya and nodded, "Alright then."

Starfighters then began to fly above the city in rows, Earl looked up in amazement at the way the parade was being run, as if everyone was mobilizing for war. Earl then jolted his head up as everyone began to raise their hand up in the air. Earl lowered his eyebrows at Chiya as she had a devoted look on her face. _It's like she's some jackboot Nazi…_ he then smirked and looked down at her jackboots, _Well, that'd explain that part…_

"Long live the Mysterian Empire and her majesty!" the crowd shouted.

Chiya then gave Earl an offended look as she continued to salute with her hand in the air, Earl swallowed and hesitantly did the same. An expensive vehicle was riding down the street with a blonde haired woman in the back in a pink dress-the heiress. Earl constantly looked back at Chiya and the heiress, surprised at just how similar they really looked. The vehicle had passed by, and the sound of marching could be heard. Earl gasped in awe as several rows of soldiers marched past the crowd, they were all holding assault rifles as they marched by. Chiya dropped her hand and smirked at Earl, he then raised an eyebrow at Chiya.

"You look surprised."

Earl widened his eyes and flailed his hands at the men, "I never knew how big the Mysterian army was!"

Chiya slowly raised an eyebrow, "Mysterian army? Those are just the backbone soldiers."

Earl widened his eyes at her, "Uh, then where's the-"

Chiya swiftly pointed down the road, Earl then looked over and gasped in amazement, "What the Hell!?"

There were thousands of female soldiers walking in rows with assault rifles in their hands as well-they were all wearing skirts and jackboots. Earl was left trembling in shock at this, Chiya had a prideful smirk on her face.

"Surprised at our massive numbers?"

"No, I'm just surprised that you have so many female soldiers!"

Chiya smirked at him and lowered her eyebrows, "On Mysteria, men only serve for a year, women serve for four uninterrupted years." She then puckered her lips and shrugged, "Unless too severely wounded."

Earl watched in amazement as the massive amounts of women marched past the two, one of the women glanced over at Earl and smiled-flirtingly waving at him. Earl quirked his mouth and shook negatively, "Screw the bar scene, if I wanted girls back then, I shoulda' just joined the Mysterian military."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and growled, "Yes, well you gave up your girl addiction now, so it's too late."

Earl nodded, "I know."

Earl looked over the crowd of women and gasped again-seeing no end to the rows of soldiers. Chiya then chuckled and crossed her arms together, "Yep, I had actually just been preparing for boot camp before I left for Earth."

Earl then slowly looked down at her jackboots again, then looked at the ones the soldiers wore-they were the exact same boots.

"Wow…" he muttered in awe.

Chiya lifted her foot up and nodded, "You can probably tell by now that I'm wearing some pretty worn out boots."

Chiya's jackboots were much duller and pale colored, the soldiers all had shiny pitch black boots-Earl always imagined that Chiya's were in top shape, but now realized that she was wearing very worn out footwear.

"Your feet must be dying in those things, we should go shoe shopping-or get a new pair of jackboots at the least."

Chiya nodded in agreement, "The soles of these things are pretty run down…"

Earl looked down at his feet and shrugged, "I could probably go for some footwear too."

Chiya then lowered her eyebrows and grunted at the sight of something unfamiliar to her, there was a large sky blue vehicle going down the parade. Earl then gasped as well, instantly spotting painted shark teeth on the front of the vehicle. There were a bunch of female officers carrying a banner labeled, _Top Contributor_.

"I'm not familiar with that weapon, must be a new tank."

Earl shook negatively, "No…" Earl had spotted the name _Fat Shark_ off the side of the machine. He then grabbed Chiya's shoulder, "How much you wanna' bet that's Don Genie?"

Chiya gritted her teeth and lowered her eyebrows, "No-o, who would insult themselves by literally stating that they were fat?"

"I know, if I were rich and had an F-Zero machine, I'd probably call it something like, _Great Gatsby_-not _Fat Korean_."

The two watched as the large F-Zero machine passed by, both were instantly sent back in amazement at the amount of rockets and boosters the machine had in the back.

"Ho-oly…" Earl spat out in awe.

"Okay, I believe you now, no ordinary racer could afford that kind of upgrade."

The two then turned around and began running down the side walk, they would have to get back to the _Red Dove_ and stalk the machine wherever it went. Both Chiya and Earl were pushing their way through-desperately trying to keep up with the _Fat Shark_.

"Why would the military be supporting a mobster?" asked Earl.

Chiya was already panting as she ran, "Probably donates to them on a regular basis!"

Earl gritted his teeth as they ran, immediately trying to figure out how they would stalk him without being noticed.

"Chiya, how are we-" he then lowered his eyebrows and came to a stop. He looked back and gasped as Chiya was surrounded by people-that's when he noticed that she was signing autographs. "Chiya!"

Chiya looked over at him as she wrote an autograph, "Go on without me!"

Earl flailed his hands in the air, "I don't have the keys!"

Chiya was instantly succumbed into writing autographs, Earl let out an annoyed sigh and rushed back towards her-knocking his way right through the people crowding her. He immediately grabbed the paper out of Chiya's hand and handed it back to the person.

"My associate is not signing autographs right now!"

He then grabbed Chiya's hand and forced her away from the crowd. The two now ran down the sidewalk together with determined looks, the _Fat Shark_ was now up ahead-but the _Red Dove_ was parked just up the street.

"Okay, if we just get to the Red Dove quickly, we can carefully follow the parade from a distance-as for how we follow Genie unnoticed, that plan's still up for grabs."

Chiya nodded and let go of his hand momentarily, she took charge and sprinted past Earl with incredible agility. Earl grunted in shock at how fast Chiya was suddenly running. Many people were looking at the two as they ran, some soldiers were beginning to get panicked looks on their faces-as this was suspicious behavior to them.

Chiya leapt inside of the _Red Dove_ moments later and turned on the engine, Earl climbed aboard immediately after her. He buckled himself in behind her and pointed towards a street.

"Okay, if we just go in that general direction, we should keep up with Genie without being-" Earl then grunted.

Chiya glanced at him for a moment, he was staring at the window. Chiya turned her head and gasped as there was a yellow piece of paper stuck to it. She sighed and opened the cockpit again, reaching out for the paper.

"What is it?" asked Earl.

Chiya closed the cockpit and looked at the paper, she then looked up and saw a handicapped sign hanging above their parking space, "Oh, blow me…"

The two were later sitting still in the _Red Dove_, Chiya was tapping her fingers impatiently as the parade was still going on. Earl let out a loud sigh and held his cheek as he looked out the window aimlessly.

"Well I'm sorry if this isn't entertaining you," Chiya said sarcastically.

Earl watched as the rows of female soldiers came to an end, both Earl and Chiya then gasped-the officers holding the _Top Contributor_ banner were now walking empty handed. Earl slammed his fist down and gritted his teeth.

"Crap! He's gone!"

Chiya narrowed her eyes and immediately hit the accelerator-going right towards the parade at a quick speed. Earl gasped in fear as they came rushing right towards the crowd of people.

"Ch- Chiya! Be careful!"

"He's not getting away…" she muttered in frustration.

She made a sharp turn around the curb and began driving right down the road with the parade-she was hugging the sidewalk tightly, not wanting to hit any soldiers. Earl began to panic and was looking left and right constantly.

"Dude! You're gonna' hit someone!"

Chiya then spotted something white on the ground near another road-it was the banner the officers had been holding. She was staring at the road it was next to-certain that Genie had taken a turn down this road. She got up to the road, but was cut off by the massive amounts of military units marching. Chiya began to grind her teeth angrily, tightly gripping the wheel.

"Come on! Move it you wankers!"

Earl grabbed her hand and began to rub it, "Let's just cool down for a moment, we've got all the time in the world to find Genie and Chain-we don't need-"

Chiya then growled and drove right through the soldiers, Earl gasped in awe at what Chiya had just done-luckily she hadn't run anyone over. The _Red Dove_ then proceeded down the road quickly. One of the officers glared at the _Red Dove_ and pointed his finger at it, he shouted an order and within seconds-hundreds of soldiers took aim.

Chiya gasped with a smile at the sight of a bright light far up ahead, "That's it! I know that's him up ah-" Both Chiya and Earl were then startled as several bullets began to rain down on the _Red Dove_, "Woah, wait, what!?"

Earl looked back and widened his eyes at the sight of Mysterian soldiers firing at her, "Oh boy! You pissed em' off!"

Luckily for Chiya and Earl, it was impossible to actually get hit by a bullet-as the cockpit was safely out of view. The rear of the _Red Dove_ however, was being chewed out instantly with bullets.

Earl was now trembling as he pulled out his handgun, "We're not gonna' die here, not yet…" he muttered fearfully.

Chiya frowned at him, then narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"Boost power!" she shouted as she pressed on the booster.

The _Red Dove_ then stormed away quickly, Chiya was now racing the bullets. Earl gritted his teeth and looked down at his gun again, "This is bad, if we go too fast, Genie will see us, but if we go too slow, then the military will get us."

Chiya smirked, "Let's go with the option that probably won't kill us…"

She then boosted one more time up the road, getting much closer to the _Fat Shark_. Chiya sighed sadly, understanding that Seppuku would be angry that she used his boosters-as regaining energy outside of a race track was difficult. Chiya looked back and exhaled in relief-the bullets had stopped coming, they were far out of their range at this point.

"Well, that may or may not be a new problem on our plate…" said Earl.

"Hm?"

"Well, you probably just put Seppuku in hot water-nobody's gonna' know that you were the one driving the Red Dove."

Chiya sighed, "I know, I know…" Chiya then looked back up at the _Fat Shark_, they were still a reasonable distance away from him, "I wonder why he's heading out into the country…"

Earl rubbed his chin and hummed, "Secret base in an isolated location, most likely."

Chiya nodded and lowered her eyebrows again, "We'll see…"

The two much later entered a mountainous area, the _Fat Shark_ had entered a valley-what Earl said may have been true, this was a very isolated area. Chiya drove towards the valley while looking at Earl.

"So we know where he is now, do we just head back?"

Earl shook negatively, "I wanna' see exactly what this is, as soon as we see a structure or something, then we head back."

Chiya nodded affirmatively, she then turned on her headlights and entered the dark valley. Earl was scanning their surroundings for traps, he wasn't fully convinced that Genie had missed them-as they had been tailing him from a distance for about twenty minutes. Chiya lowered her eyebrows and shivered in fright.

"This doesn't look like Mysteria at all, not the Mysteria I know…"

"Kind of reminds me of Sand Ocean, y'know, when we were looking for Antonio Guster in those desert mountains?"

Chiya let out a groan, "Don't remind me, that planet was so hot…"

Earl chuckled, "Yes, you established that about twenty times while we were there…"

Chiya then gasped and quickly powered off the machine, the _Red Dove_ roughly landed on the ground. Earl began to look around frantically, "What!?"

"S-sh…"

The _Red Dove_ was camouflaged in the darkness-they were no longer in a valley, they were now in a cave. There was a massive mansion-like structure standing inside of the cave. Earl then grunted and widened his eyes, the _Fat Shark_ was parked in front of the mansion-a very obese Hispanic man stood still with his cane; he was staring at the dark valley. The man was wearing a striped suit, many gems, and a silver monocle on his right eye. He had a scar going down that same eye and was nearly bald-only he had fin-like black hair.

Chiya's heart was beating as the man stared right at them, Earl had his fingers around his handgun tightly-prepared to kill the man as a last resort. This was without a doubt Don Genie. Genie slowly turned around and proceeded towards his mansion, he stretched his arms as he walked. Chiya and Earl both exhaled, she then looked back at Earl with a frightened look.

"Okay, let's get the Hell outta' here!"

Earl grabbed her shoulder and narrowed his eyes, "Hold up, I think we should think about this more carefully…"

"Carefully? We just leave, doesn't get any more careful than that!"

Earl nodded, "I mean, strategic." Chiya lowered her eyebrows at him a few times, he then unbuckled his seatbelt and held his handgun up, "I'm gonna' go break the ice with him personally, tell him that we want _in_."

Chiya gasped and shook negatively, "No! Not without me!"

Earl applied force to her shoulder as she tried getting out of her seat, Earl then smirked at her, "If I'm not back in thirty minutes, assume the worst has happened and go get Seppuku- no wait…"

He then handed her his tracking device, "You know what, just keep my tracking device, I'll get myself a new one later on."

Chiya looked down at the device, "So if you're not back in thirty minutes, I call Seppuku?"

Earl nodded, "Just wait here for me, I'll be right back."

He then leaped out of the _Red Dove_ and began to sprint towards the mansion with his gun out. Chiya began to frantically bite on her fingernail. _What if he just gets shot as he enters the building? What if Earl dies here? I never get to see him again because of my personal problems…_ she then shut her eyes tightly, _Earl, don't die, please don't die, please-_ Chiya then lost sense of everything, momentarily collapsing into her chair. She made a grunting sound as she lay motionlessly against her chair…

Chiya momentarily began to open her eyes, she was confused as to why everything was pitch black. She looked around with her eyebrows lowered-she momentarily felt a part of the _Red Dove_'s dashboard and was instantly sent into shock. She gasped and looked up-she was still facing the mansion, the lights were on and the _Fat Shark_ was still parked. _Oh no!_ she thought frantically. She then looked at the digital clock in the _Red Dove_-she gasped in horror at what she was seeing, _I was out for fifty minutes!?_ She then slammed her hands down on the dashboard loudly with watery eyes.

"Ea-arl!" she screamed.

"Yes?"

She gasped and looked back, Earl was sitting behind her again. Chiya was hyperventilating, she then exhaled in relief and rubbed her forehead, "Oh, oh thank God you're okay…"

Earl smirked at her, "It looked like you fainted, I saw you were still breathing right when I got back-so I have just been keeping an eye on you since."

Chiya nodded at him, then raised an eyebrow, "S- so what did Don Genie say?"

Earl let out a long gasp of amazement, "My God Chiya, that mansion-let's just kill him and move in there…" he joked.

"Is it really that nice?"

"It has a built in casino, that place is Godly for a person like me." Chiya blinked at him a few times, he then nodded at her, "Surprisingly, he was pretty calm when I walked in-said you and me could come in tomorrow for some work." Earl then smirked at Chiya, "Oh, and your guy name is _Cham_."

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "Cham?"

"Cham."

"No human being has the name Cham, Earl."

Earl smirked at her, "Well you'll be the first."

Chiya then turned on the engine and nodded, "Fine, let's get back home-I hope you don't mind, but we're gonna' drive around New Edinburgh this time."

Earl nodded, "Good idea."

The two then drove off, concluding their mission for the day. The only problem that occurred, was a now damaged _Red Dove_ and probable warrant for Seppuku's arrest. Nothing out of the ordinary for Chiya and her friends…

Later that night, everyone was safely back in the Flower household-only someone was standing outside of the house far out in the distance. A sharp dagger was drawn, Dark Rose then ran her tongue slowly up the blade with a devious smirk on her face. She raised a communication device up to her face as she continued to lick her dagger.

"Blaskovitz, ask Black Shadow one more time, get me the green light on this no matter what-tell him that I'm looking at mom's house right now."

"To kill Chiya's mother?"

Rose nodded-even though he couldn't see her, "Mom and Abby, they both have to die…"

"Any convincing arguments I should bring up to Black Shadow?"

Rose stared at the household as the lights then went off in several rooms-only the kitchen light remained on, and Chiya's room was once again glowing blue from the TV.

"Tell him that killing Chiya's family will break their morale, might even make Chiya kill herself," Rose dipped her head down and smirked, "I know I would if I lost my loved ones, which means she would too."

"Killing her family, that is one dark hearted thing to do."

Rose then smirked and sheathed her dagger in her pocket, "Mind you, Blaskovitz…"

She smiled with sharp white teeth, "They're my family too…"

To be continued…


	48. Lap 47

==Lap 47=

Earl and Chiya were sitting on the floor of her bedroom, both were looking into each others narrowed eyes. Chiya licked her lips, she didn't move her eyes at the slightest, completely locked at Earl as they both had challenging looks. Earl smirked at Chiya with his eyes still narrowed, he tapped his fingers on his chin as he waited for Chiya to make a sound. Chiya wiggled her toes around as she tapped her finger on her chin a few times. She hummed in puzzlement, momentarily getting a devious smirk.

"Panzer Heil!" she shouted excitedly.

She then looked down at the board game they were playing and moved one of her tanks forward-she wiped Earl's set of tanks right off the board. Earl gasped and shook negatively, "What!?"

Chiya nodded, "My medium tank found that your heavy tank had an exposed front, so I shot it, afterwards my tank destroyers came around that hill and destroyed your other panzers." She then crossed her arms with a look of pride, "I win, sir."

Earl slammed his fist down angrily, "That's total crap! The frontal armor of a tank isn't a weak spot, it's the best place to get hit!"

Chiya held up the paper with the rules and puckered her lips, "Says it all right here…"

Earl shook negatively, "Bunch of crap, the frontal armor of a tank is too strong, realistically, I would have had the upper hand in that kind of situation."

Chiya nodded, "Oh trust me, I used to complain about that when I played this as a kid, my parents just claimed it was the rules, but I've always known about tanks-and I agree, that's crap." She shrugged and began putting the pieces back inside of the box, "I imagine the blokes who made this game had no idea how tank warfare worked."

"Definitely."

Chiya put the box away and leaped back down onto the floor with Earl, she got on her belly and kicked her feet in the air as she stared at him with a smile. "This has been a fun night!"

Earl smirked and nodded, "I always pictured my best friend would, you know, be a guy," he then closed his eyes and smiled, "Not a woman, especially one as bright as you."

Chiya chuckled, "I'm not that bright…"

"Your compassion for others compensates for it."

Chiya raised an eyebrow at him, "Others? Who are these other people?"

"Well, you seem to panic when someone is in trouble, and I bet you'd go back to save someone if they were being attacked on the streets."

Chiya placed her finger on her lips and contemplated whether this was true, Earl then began to wiggle his fingers in the air as he got a larger grin, "Ea-arl!" he silently shouted, mimicking what she had shouted hours ago.

Chiya frowned and dipped her head down, Earl continued to chuckle at her, but momentarily lost his smile at the sight of her saddening up.

"Not funny…" she muttered coldly.

Earl felt his heart drop, feeling that he went a bit too far. Earl swallowed and looked back up at her, "Uh, no, I'm just laughing at your reaction, it's a lot different-"

"I thought you were dead, what part of me blasting out my emotions was funny to you?"

Earl frowned and rubbed the back of his head, "It's not like that at all, because I was okay, wasn't I?" Chiya remained still with an emotionless look, she was staring down at the floor aimlessly while thinking, "My discussion with him went superb, I was in no danger."

"But what if you were?" Earl then lowered his eyebrows at her, "What if you had walked in and instantly got your head blown off by him?"

Earl gasped slightly and shook negatively, "Oh, Chiya, please don't worry yourself like that, I knew I would-"

"What if it were switched around?" she asked loudly as she swished her head back up. Earl widened his eyes and instantly became lost in her eyes, "What if you were the one wanting to go back, and I just swished my hand at you and left for the mansion-despite the fact that I could die and you would never see me again."

Earl frowned and shook negatively, "But you-"

"I don't know how much you care about me, but I care about you, a lot," she then blushed and dipped her head down sadly, "I would be lost if you died, I don't think I would possibly be able to finish the Grand Prix…"

Earl let out a grunt of despair, he then closed his eyes and nodded, "I'm sorry Chiya, it didn't seem like a big deal to you before, I assumed you were content with my decision."

Chiya shook negatively, "Just please don't leave me any-" she then interrupted herself by shaking quickly, "Don't throw your life around like some resource-people care about you."

Earl stood up and lowered his eyebrows, "What people? I lost my family, I have no friends, and I can't get along with people at the café."

Chiya crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him, "Nonsense, you have me, Seppuku, Bart, and my mom." She then turned her head away from him, "And as far as I'm concerned, my family is your family-I'm sure mom would agree with me."

Earl was now looking at some shelves Chiya had in her room, he lifted up a clay model of the _Blue Falcon_-it had Chiya's initials carved onto the bottom. He then looked over and found some drawings, he found that most of the drawings were Captain Falcon oriented-one even had hearts surrounding him. Earl chuckled and looked over at Chiya, who was now getting in bed.

"So you really did have a crush on Captain Falcon…"

Chiya shrugged, "It's not weird, all my friends had crushes on F-Zero racers."

Earl then lowered his eyebrows in confusion as he looked at a drawing of Chiya riding a horse-only the horse was wearing Captain Falcon gear.

"Ye-eah."

Chiya then yawned and laid down on her bed, she was now watching TV with a dazed look on her face. "I just wanna' nail Chain in the head, kill Genie, and get to the next race, I'm gonna' try really hard to win th-"

Chiya then gasped as Earl grabbed her foot, he sat down on the bed and began to rub her heel with both thumbs. Chiya immediately jolted up straight with an infuriated look, she flailed her arms wildly in the air at Earl.

"Dude!"

Earl looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, "Just relax and let me apologize through a foot massage."

Chiya grinded her teeth and growled at him, "I told you countless times, I don't like people touching my feet! Let alone look at them."

Earl shrugged at her, "I don't see what you're so mad about, you have pretty feet."

Chiya began to blush and shook negatively, "Th- this is perverse!"

Earl chuckled at her as he moved his fingers down to her soles, "No, a breast massage is perve-"

"You can do that instead."

Earl lowered his eyebrows at Chiya and shook negatively, beginning to chuckle at her, "Seriously Chiya, I don't see what the problem is."

"Be- because! How would you feel if I just went down in your pants and began massaging your guy parts!?"

Earl dipped his head down and gritted his teeth, "Okay, well that's not a massage, that would be called…" he then shook his head negatively, "Just try and think calmly, you're getting to worked up over this."

Chiya breathed in and growled, "Those other girls may like you doing this, but I have my own standards…"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "Huh? You're the first girl I ever did this for." Chiya then grunted and widened her eyes, "I would never do this for any ordinary girl."

Chiya's eyes were quivering at him, she then exhaled and nodded, "Don't you dare try taking my sock off, or I'll sock you in the face."

Earl nodded and continued working on her foot, Chiya let out an exhale and momentarily laid back down.

Earl many hours later opened his eyes, but this time he woke up the correct way, finding that Chiya was laying to his left. He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder as she softly slept, Chiya had a smile on her face-as he had eventually won her over with the foot massage. She had eventually stated that she was enjoying the massage, even though it wasn't done barefoot.

Earl yawned and rubbed her shoulder a few times, he was suddenly startled as Seppuku kicked open the door.

"What the-"

Chiya then jolted her head up and wiped her mouth, both were initially shocked at the sight of Seppuku and Fiona forcibly coming into the room. Seppuku looked at the two and lowered his eyebrows, Fiona immediately crossed her hands over her heart and smiled.

"A-aw, that's so precious…"

Earl and Chiya glanced at each other quickly with widened eyes, Earl momentarily scooted back against the wall some more-distancing himself from Chiya somewhat.

"Good morning," greeted Chiya.

Seppuku crossed his arms together, "Alright little Flower, time for your makeup."

Little Flower?

Chiya thought taking slight offense to this. Earl sat up and stretched, moving to the end of the bed with Chiya, "You mean, make her look like a man?"

"No, I just thought we'd give Chiya a random makeover," Seppuku said sarcastically.

Fiona held up a bag and smiled at the two, "Got everything we need to make Chiya the perfect blonde man."

Earl sighed and dipped his head down, "This is going to be one awkward day…"

About an hour had passed and Chiya was still sitting on her bed, Earl was in back of Seppuku and Fiona as they put their final touchups on her. Chiya sat patiently with a look of fright, fearing how she was going to look as a man. Seppuku momentarily stepped away from her and nodded with a smirk. Fiona stepped away from the bed and chuckled.

"Oh God, it's the son I never wanted!"

Earl hesitantly looked over Seppuku's shoulder at her and grunted, Seppuku immediately chuckled at Earl, "Still feel like kissing Chiya?"

Earl rubbed the back of his head with a disturbed look, he couldn't find the right words to respond with. Chiya now had what appeared to be a shaved beard, thicker eyebrows, more textured skin, and her hair was put up inside her hat. Fiona then lifted Chiya's shirt up slightly and tied the girdle around her. Chiya growled and swatted her mom's hands away, momentarily lifting the girdle up herself.

"Now pull on the strings," Fiona instructed.

Chiya raised an eyebrow and looked down at the girdle, there were two strings hanging down. Chiya slightly tugged on the strings, but wasn't finding that her breasts were getting very pushed back. She looked up at everyone with her teeth gritted. Seppuku then growled and grabbed the strings himself, pulling them back roughly, Chiya let out a cry as it tightly pushed her breasts back-but not nearly enough.

Seppuku let go and rubbed his chin, "They aren't going far enough…"

Chiya wiped her forehead, "Well maybe we can just-"

Seppuku looked back at Fiona and Earl, "Okay guys, I have an idea…"

Chiya was trembling and had very widened eyes. Fiona was now holding onto the strings, Seppuku was holding her, and Earl was holding Seppuku. Chiya grunted and shook negatively, "Th- this is gonna' probably kill me…"

"Alright, on the count of three-we all pull," said Seppuku.

"One, two, three!"

Everyone pulled roughly, and within a second of the pulling Chiya screamed. Seppuku let go of Fiona and moved over to Chiya, he looked at her from the side and smirked-her breasts were not fairly flat looking.

"Perfect."

Earl bit his finger as he looked at Chiya, "How do you feel?"

Chiya gritted her teeth and shook negatively, "I feel like my boobs are cocked like a gun, ready to fire at any time…"

Seppuku crossed his arms, "Well we don't plan on applying all this makeup every day, so you have one day to get all the information on Michael Chain you can, and of course, steal as much money as you can obtain."

Chiya slowly stood up and nodded, she continued to rub on her chest, "Do I really look like a guy?" Everyone nodded at her, she then puckered her lips, "Am I a stu-ud?"

Seppuku looked down at her purple shorts and shook negatively, "No, you look like an extreme homosexual."

"Hey! Don't insult gays like that," Earl snapped back at him.

Seppuku turned and smirked at him, "Oh, that's right, Earl will have to become gay now, won't he?"

Chiya walked up to Earl and punched his arm, "That's right."

"Now, if you need us to make you some fake guy parts, we can use clay and a golf ball to improvise."

Chiya smiled and nodded, "Yes, I would like to have a pen-"

"Woah, woah, woah! What kind of mission is this!?" asked Earl.

Seppuku nodded, "Bendek's right, you shouldn't need it."

Chiya frowned, "Fine…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows at Chiya, "Uh, yo-ou like being a girl, don't you?"

Chiya nodded, "Was a little interested to know what one looks like."

The room then became very silent. Earl was looking away from her, Seppuku and Fiona were looking at each other with lowered eyebrows. The room was filled with an awkward silence. Earl momentarily cleared his throat and stomped his foot down.

"Anyways, I guess we'll be going then!"

Chiya and Earl much later went driving back to Don Genie's mansion, they had decided against going through New Edinburgh-fearing that the military may fire at the _Red Dove_ for previously rushing through a crowd of soldiers. Chiya was once again driving calmly with her hands around the wheel, she was constantly glancing over at Earl in confusion-he was simply staring at her most of the trip. Chiya sighed and dipped her head down.

"Problem?"

Earl grunted and shook negatively, "N- no, I'm just kind of…"

Chiya waited patiently for him to finish his sentence, however, he was gritting his teeth with a panicked look. Chiya then smirked at him, "Just surprised to see what a perfect man looks like?"

Earl shook his head negatively, "Uh, somewhat like that," he rolled his eyes and looked out the window, "I just want to get this over with so you can take off all that crap."

Chiya chuckled, "What's the problem? Wouldn't you rather have a guy as a best friend?"

Earl slowly looked over at her and quirked his mouth, "I would rather have Chiya Flower as a friend."

Chiya smiled and looked up towards the mountains, "Well, for the next hour or two, I am known as Cham Flower."

Earl sighed and crossed his arms, "Okay, if he asks, I'm the one in charge of you," he looked down at her legs and sighed again, "Those shaved legs are gonna' look suspicious."

Seppuku and Fiona were in the kitchen together once again, Seppuku was leaning against the fridge while staring at her intensely.

"So, you do plan on telling Chiya about your failing marriage, right?"

"No!" she spat back quickly. Seppuku raised an intrigued eyebrow at her, "Chiya and Abigail mustn't ever find out!"

Seppuku smirked at her, "You know, Chiya's not a teenager anymore, she can probably handle the truth."

Fiona began to frantically open up cupboards, wanting to escape from the topic, Seppuku then tapped his foot down a few times, "You're not a bad person for losing the spark, just means that the man failed to keep you happy."

Fiona lowered her eyebrows and clenched her fists, she spun around towards him angrily, "My love life is not of your concern!"

Seppuku chuckled, "Just trying to help."

"Help how? I'm not even looking for a man, I don't need any of your help."

Seppuku crossed his arms and shook negatively, "Of course you're not, you're just looking for a few minutes of excitement," he smirked and looked up at her, "I know your daughter does with Bendek to some extent."

Fiona lowered her eyebrows in confusion, trying to make sense of what he had just said. She momentarily gasped and glared at him, "Th- that behavior is not tolerated in this household, Lieutenant!"

"Nope, it is, and now I know where Chiya got her sexual traits f-"

The two were then interrupted as the window to the kitchen completely shattered-a metal object flying right through the window. Seppuku and Fiona both gasped and looked out the window-revealing the dark clothed woman with an evil grin, Dark Rose. Seppuku looked over at the wall behind him and found a throwing knife stuck in the wall.

"Ch- Chiya!" Fiona shouted in confusion.

Rose lifted up her other throwing knife and chuckled evilly at her, "Goodbye, mother!"

Rose then took quick aim at Fiona and instantly lunged the knife through the air, Fiona let out a gasp as the spiraling knife came right towards her. Seppuku had leapt in the way at the last moment and somehow caught the knife between his hands. Fiona gasped as she looked back at Seppuku, he gritted his teeth and opened up his hands-a thick layer of blood now resting on the shiny blade. Seppuku quickly ran back up to Fiona and got in front of her-trying to protect her. Seppuku growled at Rose and brought his hand up-his gloves were now slit and cut flesh was revealed; he had stopped the knife none-the-less.

"Come get some you dark spawn!"

Rose acknowledged the challenge and smirked, though her mission wasn't to kill Seppuku-she would likely be executed by Black Shadow if she did.

"Chiya!" Fiona yelled again.

Seppuku growled, "That's not Chiya, that's her evil clone-Dark Rose."

Fiona gasped, "Wha- a clone!?"

Rose then leapt into the kitchen and rolled around the two, instantly jumping around the house with superhuman speed. Seppuku held onto Fiona and grabbed his rifle out, understanding that Rose was here for her. Rose was running down the hallways of the house quickly-trying to confuse the two. Seppuku stomped his foot down and held onto Fiona tighter.

"You- you're getting blood all over me Lieutenant!"

"Shut up."

Rose then leapt across the room, somehow grasping the knife out of the wall while in midair. Seppuku gritted his teeth, unable to get a lock on the quick moving girl.

"Dammit, stay still!"

"Can't we just settle this over a glass of tea?"

Seppuku slowly looked down at her, he sighed, "You would never survive in my organization…"

Rose then leapt a few meters in front of them with a devious smirk, she was holding the knife tightly and was staring at Seppuku intensely. Seppuku aimed the barrel of his gun at her, she then chuckled at him.

"Careful Lieutenant, miss the shot, and I'll have already cut mom's head off!"

Seppuku gritted his teeth nervously, Fiona widened her eyes and shook negatively, "Wh- why kill me! I would love any daughter of mine, even a clone!"

"Shut up, mom."

Seppuku began to tremble nervously, he knew that if this were Blood Falcon-he would never make the shot, but considering it was the clone of Chiya, he was wondering if he could get away with it. Seppuku gave her an intense stare as Rose tapped her feet constantly, prepared to leap at any moment. Seppuku bit his lip and dropped his rifle momentarily, Rose then glared at him and laughed.

"You fool!"

Rose leapt towards the two at a quick speed, she watched as Fiona's eyes widened as she got closer to her face-but then she was stopped. Rose gasped and looked down, she was now above the floor. Seppuku was lifting her up by the arm with only one hand, he then snatched the knife out of Rose's hands and chuckled.

"Ah, we were never in any real danger, you're just as weak as Chiya."

Seppuku poked Rose's forehead playfully, she then growled at him, "Let me go you dark hearted bastard!"

Seppuku chuckled at her, "Meow," he demanded.

Rose widened her eyes, "Wha- what?"

Seppuku then aimed the knife up at her forehead, "Meow, like a cat…"

Rose grunted in an appalled tone at the request, Seppuku then poked her forehead with the knife. Rose widened her eyes and puckered her lips with a distressed look.

"Meow! Meow!"

Seppuku chuckled at her, "I'm not convinced that you're a cat, start licking yourself."

Rose lowered her eyebrows and dropped her mouth, "What!?"

Seppuku then cut into her forehead slightly, leaving a small cut, "Meow! Meow!" she yelled panicking, now licking her arm constantly.

Seppuku began to laugh at her, he then looked at Fiona, "Get Miss Kitty a leash."

Chiya and Earl parked in front of the mansion, Chiya immediately stepped out of the _Purring Kitten_ and stretched. Earl got out and sighed, he immediately began walking towards the mansion. Chiya looked over at him and grunted.

"Woah, hold on!" she said chasing after him.

The two momentarily got to the door, Earl slowly opened it and crossed his arms. Chiya took a step inside and gasped loudly, "Wo-oah!"

The mansion was full of jewelry, gold, bright carpeting, marble walling, and luxurious furniture. Earl nodded, he pointed over at a living room area-there was clearly someone large sitting in a rocking chair by a fireplace. Chiya widened her eyes and looked back at Earl.

"I- is that..?"

Earl nodded and carefully approached Don Genie, Chiya bit on her finger and was prepared to pull out her handgun if something went wrong. She took one last look down at her chest, she was still under extreme pressure from the girdle-but her chest was flat none-the-less.

"I came back as requested Genie."

Don Genie turned his head towards the two, he momentarily gritted his teeth at the sight of Chiya, "Oh my, is this your, partner?"

Earl gasped and began to shake negatively, Chiya smiled and put his hand on his shoulder, "Yes, we're partners, pleased to meet you!" she said gleefully, misunderstanding what _partners_ meant.

Genie nodded at him, "Oh, well, very good…"

He slowly stood up and cleared his throat, "I am ecstatic to have two new workers, this is a dirty business after all…"

Earl swished his hand at him, "Bah, dirty business, we're used to it."

Genie began walking towards a large gem-green colored door, Earl widened his eyes and smiled, "Oh, ar- are we going in there?"

Genie stomped his cane down, "Gotta' get you familiar with the other members."

Chiya swallowed nervously, but she was surprised to find that Earl appeared legitimately excited. He began chasing after Genie quickly, Chiya grunted and momentarily chased after Earl.

The three momentarily entered a massive casino-though it was completely vacant, except for a gambling area, which had three other men present. Chiya was shocked at the casino portion of the building, wondering if he ever had a full house of people around. Genie sat down at the table and slammed his fists down loudly.

"Ey' boss."

Genie looked up at Earl, "Boys, these two will be helping us from now on as getaway drivers."

Earl sat down at the table and smirked, "What are we playing guys?"

"Blackjack."

Earl grabbed Chiya's hand and brought her down into a seat, "Classic, I'll join in, I'm a pro gambler."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and looked around the table, everyone seemed content letting him join in. _We just got here like a minute ago, how can we seriously be playing a game already..?_

Genie glanced at Chiya, "Is he joining?"

Chiya widened her eyes and looked at Earl for help, she didn't want to speak very much-as her voice was more girly than she first thought. Earl shook negatively, "He doesn't talk much, nor does he gamble."

Genie nodded, "Gambling is frustrating."

Earl nodded, "Not when you're winning."

Chiya looked back at him and narrowed her eyes, Earl then patted the back of her back, "But trust me, her skills in shooting and driving are superb."

The men all widened their eyes at him, Genie cleared his throat, "Uh, what do you mean, _she_?"

At that moment, Chiya's breasts completely popped out again-the strings had snapped. Everyone gasped as Chiya now had her regular large looking chest, Earl was trembling in shock, Chiya slowly looked down at her chest and gasped.

"Uh, uh, uh!" She looked around the table frantically, "Wh- where did these come from!?" she yelled with a fake smile.

Earl slowly face palmed and sighed, "I knew I should have just done this alone…"

Genie stood up and got an angered look, "What is this!?" He then forcibly grabbed her hat and widened his eyes as her hair came down, Genie then smirked at her. "Oh, if it isn't the young maiden, Chiya Flower…"

Chiya positioned her stock hat correctly and bit her lip, "We- we just wanted to get this debt off of my mom!"

Earl pointed his finger up, "-and find Michael Chain, I promise you sir, we mean you no actual harm."

Genie raised up his golden cane and chuckled, momentarily putting a classic Tommy Gun drum magazine into it. His cane was actually a golden assault rifle. Earl and Chiya both gasped, Chiya initially pulled out her handgun and aimed at him. Genie then chuckled at the two.

"You break into my house, expecting to pay off your mother?"

Chiya quickly nodded, "Sh- she's paid well over the original amount she took out!"

"But not under my time limit, the debt has increased beyond her capability…"

Earl gritted his teeth and aimed his handgun at the other three men, who all had handguns aimed at the two. "L- look, just tell us where Michael Chain is and we'll split for good, we really don't care what you do here."

"No! I need to save my mom!" Chiya argued.

"Chiya!" Earl snapped back at her.

Genie chuckled at the two, "Perhaps we can make out a deal…" the two then looked at each other, slowly looking back at Genie, "What kind of deal?"

Genie smirked while holding the assault rifle, "Michael Chain has screwed me outta' the cash, he hasn't paid me back, and we can't find him anywhere."

Earl sighed, "Well we can't really help each other out then…"

"Not necessarily, if I provide you with a lead, can you hunt him down, and kill him for us?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes at him, "What do we get out of it?"

"You will finally have dealt with this rival of yours, and I will drop the debt your dear mother has, a win-win situation, no?"

Chiya widened her eyes and nodded, "Wait, that sounds great!"

"Of course, this is only if you can prove to me that you killed him," Genie rubbed his chin and smirked, "Bring back the golden chained necklace he wears, I could always go for more gold."

Genie then pulled out a necklace from under his shirt, both Earl and Chiya gasped. It was the necklace that had been stolen aboard the transport. Chiya glanced at Earl for a moment, Genie smirked at the two.

"We have an engine that he created, it appears that his gang has started manufacturing their own machine parts…"

"Bloody Chain machine parts?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "That doesn't sound like the Michael Chain I remember…"

Genie crossed his arms, "We can send you off with the part, simply find out where it originated from, you will then have your lead," he took the drum magazine out of his gun and smirked at the two, "Kill him, and your mother will be free."

Genie pointed at one of his men, "Get them the part, load it onto their vehicle."

Chiya backed away from the table with Earl, Genie then smirked at the two, "Ms. Flower, good luck on the race in two days…"

Chiya nodded at him and turned away with Earl, she still had her handgun tightly held in her hands as she walked.

About two hours later, the two returned to the Flower household. Earl lifted what appeared to be an engine out of the _Red Dove_-the words _Bloody Chain_ imprinted across the metal. Both were baffled that Michael Chain had actually built a type of engine, rather than raising a massive gang yet again. Chiya had wiped the eyebrows off of her face, but still had the beard on.

"At least we got out of there alive, now we have plenty of time to solve everybody's problems."

Earl nodded at her as he opened the door, "Surely Michael Chain isn't as well armed as he used to, this should be a cake run if we bring Seppuku along."

The two then entered the house, they could see Seppuku and Fiona standing in the kitchen. Chiya smiled as she approached the door leading to the room, she then widened her eyes as she noticed that Fiona had a very panicked look on her face-not even greeting Chiya.

Chiya walked into the kitchen with Earl and raised an eyebrow, "Mom?"

Earl then grunted and looked over at the wall, Chiya gasped and held her mouth. Dark Rose had a metal leash around her neck, now connected to the wall.

"What the Hell!?" Chiya panicked.

Rose narrowed her eyes at Chiya and growled, Seppuku then began to chuckle, "We're gonna' get some answers from her…"

To be continued…


	49. Lap 48

==Lap 48=

"I promise that if you let me go, I'll never-"

"Nope," Seppuku responded coldly.

Dark Rose dipped her head down and sighed. Everyone was present in the kitchen, where Seppuku and Fiona had finally captured Dark Rose-killing her would be on the top agenda once they obtained all needed information from her. Unfortunately for Rose, not one person in the kitchen felt sympathetic towards her. Rose was trembling as she looked at everyone, she licked her lips in frustration as every single person she planned on killing was standing right in front of her; everyone except for Abigail Flower. Seppuku crossed his arms and nodded at Rose.

"Why come here? Why kill them?"

Rose glared at him and shook negatively, "Kiss my ass wanker."

Seppuku sighed and looked over at the three, "Any one have any methods of interrogation?"

Earl was surprised to find that everyone looked at him, he lowered his eyebrows and swallowed nervously, "Guys, I don't know anything about interrogating-all we learned was how to cope through interrogation."

Seppuku sighed, "Maybe we can do what Black Shadow did to Chiya…"

Chiya gasped and shook negatively, "No, I don't care how evil Rose is, no one deserves what I got…"

Earl looked at her arms and raised his eyebrows, he had completely forgotten that Chiya had been given hundreds of deep cuts and gashes as a punishment for not breaking-the scars were now for the most part gone. Seppuku crossed his arms angrily at Chiya, clearly in disparagement of her morals.

"This is a war we're fighting Chiya, things have to happen," Seppuku looked over at Earl, "You were in a war, wouldn't you agree?"

Earl dipped his head down and rubbed his head, "Honestly, I think I agree with Chiya, no soldier deserved that kind of treatment-maybe the government, but not the soldiers."

Seppuku glanced over at Fiona for a moment, "I heard what happened to my baby, I don't think I could bear the thought that I committed a similar atrocity."

Seppuku finally sighed and nodded, "You got lucky Rose, we're more merciful than your emperor, apparently."

Rose turned her head away from him and snarled, "All you'll have gotten out of me by the end of this is the humiliation of being tied up like some dog."

Fiona looked around the room confused, still being left without the full story of Dark Rose, "So-o, why exactly was my daughter cloned?"

Earl quickly turned his head, "Black Shadow thought that he could use her for informative purposes, as a clone of Chiya is built with memories and knowledge, Rose knows all of our weaknesses and codes to various things."

Seppuku raised an eyebrow at Earl, "Yes, actually."

Rose had a dauntless look on her face as she continued to look around the room, her red eyes were momentarily trained on Chiya's blue eyes intensely. Chiya widened her eyes and blinked a few times, Rose tugged on her leash and sighed.

"Why did we put a pet leash on her?" asked Chiya.

Seppuku smirked, "Well, she insisted on acting like a fleabag, so I gave her a leash."

Rose growled at him, "Because you told me to!" she spat defensively.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, you just started meowing like a cat for some reason."

"Oh, for sure," she sneered back at him.

A few moments of silence went by, Seppuku finally yawned and shrugged. He then began to chuckle and threw his long rifle up in the air, shoving it right into her mouth. Rose widened her eyes and began to tremble, she could recall how powerful his rifle was-the shot would separate her head. Everyone got disturbed looks at Seppuku, even Chiya had to feel somewhat bad for her evil counterpart, what Seppuku was doing seemed unethical for a hero. Even if he were an anti-hero.

"Better blurt out answers little girl, you're seconds away from a cold and lonely death."

Rose shut her eyes tightly and began to shake in frustration, "Do it! Kill me, I wanna' die!" Seppuku only growled at this, feeling that she was simply trying to act brave, but then everyone noticed something-a tear of blood going down her face. "My life is terrible, please, just set me free already!"

Chiya widened her eyes and lowered her eyebrows, "Well that's not what I wanted to hear…"

Seppuku smirked and shoved the barrel further into her mouth, "Same here…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows at her, "Why do you not wanna' live?"

Rose cried very softly, making no sounds as the red tears went down her cheeks, "B- because, my life is horrible!" Everyone continued to stare at her in confusion, Rose was now grinding her teeth and breathed in while biting down on Seppuku's rifle, "I'm tortured, beaten, I have no friends, no one loves me, I don't have a cat, I don't get to have fun, I'm constantly starved as a punishment, no TV, no games, no books, I can't even draw…"

Chiya got a very crushed look on her face, Rose then fiercely glared at Chiya, "I miss the days where I was part of your blood, where we both led the luxurious life," Rose stomped her foot down furiously and growled, "Why the Hell do you get to live a happy life with all these things!?"

Chiya was stunned and couldn't think of a response, once again falling victim to guilt-Dark Rose wouldn't have been created in the first place if it weren't for the fact that she got shot aboard the ship. Rose and Chiya continued to have a stare off, Seppuku slowly took the barrel of his rifle out of her mouth and quirked his mouth. Chiya's eyes were now watering as she shook negatively.

"Wh- why kill us then? Just run Rose! Leave Black Shadow, or even join us, we'll take care of you!"

Seppuku smirked, "Not a half bad idea actua-"

"You idiots…" she muttered with a slight smirk. Both Chiya and Seppuku gave her puzzled looks, Rose quirked her mouth and shook negatively, "It's not my decision, I was programmed this way…"

Rose then glanced up at Chiya with an intense look, "Unless my master is destroyed-I will always be this way."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "Black Shadow?"

Rose hesitantly nodded, "As long as he lives, I am a puppet-if he ceases to exist, then me, Blood Falcon, and Blaskovitz are released."

Earl widened his eyes and hit his fist into his palm, "Can't we surgically remove this part of you?"

"Stupid mechanic, we're centuries ahead of you technologically-we're programmed through our blood, connected to his blood."

Chiya growled, "Don't call Earl stupid! He's trying to help!"

Rose chuckled at her while looking down at the floor, "Then help me by killing yourself."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows as she continued to stare at Rose, focusing on her drooping black bangs as she had her face drooped downward. _If what she says is true, we can save her by killing Black Shadow-she might turn into someone nice like me…_ Chiya then gasped as Seppuku put the barrel of his gun up to Rose's face again.

"How sad, but I'm still gonna' have to kill you…"

Chiya gasped and leapt at Seppuku, instantly latching onto his rifle, "No! You can't shoot her!"

Seppuku growled and tried shaking Chiya off of her, "Let go Chiya, she's evil and needs to be vanquished once and for all!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

The two immediately locked up with challenging looks, both wanting a different solution to the problem. Earl and Rose were both watching in amazement, Rose was utterly shocked at Chiya's defense of her. Seppuku was still able to shoot Rose if he wanted, but he was wanting a clean shot to the head, not the body.

"Let, go, Chiya!" Seppuku instructed loudly.

"No!"

Earl momentarily got behind Chiya and grabbed her softly, blocking the front of the rifle. Fiona got behind Seppuku and grabbed his arm.

"Come on Mr. Seppuku, we need to speak more about this as a team before actually doing anything!"

Rose was wide-eyed and trembling, wondering if Seppuku would get the shot on her-it was three against one. Rose looked down at the metal leash and gritted her teeth, wondering if she could find a way to break free.

Seppuku momentarily stomped his foot down loudly and let out a loud growl. "Okay, okay, fine! We'll try and compromise about this some more then." Everyone then let go of him, Chiya and Earl both stepped back in front of Rose-making sure that he wouldn't shoot her immediately after. Seppuku quirked his mouth in frustration, "Why so sympathetic against this clone all of a sudden?"

"Witch," Rose corrected.

Earl shook negatively, "Quite frankly, I'd like to see her dead as much as you, but we can't just put her down like some kind of sick animal!"

Fiona nodded in agreement, "What about prison? Surely the woman who made contact with me cou-"

"I refuse to further work with that bat."

Fiona raised an eyebrow at Seppuku, "What's wrong with her?"

The room then went silent for a few moments, Seppuku was simply giving her an intense stare. Chiya then cleared her throat and playfully puckered her lips. "They're in love."

Seppuku jolted up straight and spun around with a furious look, he then shoved his rifle roughly past their heads-pressing it against Rose's forehead, "Say again, Little Flower?"

Chiya grabbed his barrel and grunted, "I- I was just kidding!"

Several hours later, the four had failed to come to an agreement-everyone had departed for bed, agreeing to simply leave Rose tied up for the night. The group was so far leaning on the idea of bringing her back to Seppuku's base, where they would lock her up in the training room. Seppuku now believed that killing her wasn't the best idea, as Rose could provide them with information about Black Shadow-such as weak points and his usual location. The simple fact was, however, that no one wanted Rose alive. Chiya merely pleaded for mercy because she feels that she could still be saved. Earl intervened because he views Rose like a soldier forced to fight-and because Chiya displayed emotions for Rose's survival. Fiona had little of a stance on the matter, but she had no desire to clean up blood from her walls.

Chiya and Earl were yet again sleeping together, Chiya had completely hogged the blanket in her sleep and wrapped it completely around herself. Earl was slightly shivering as he silently slept, though he wasn't awake to actually react to this. Chiya was constantly licking her lips, her mouth was completely dry and sticky-she grunted a few times as she tried moistening up the roof of her mouth. Chiya was also pawing her hand forward constantly like a cat, completely lost in a good dream.

"Is the deputy in camp..?" she muttered silently in her sleep.

Chiya then slightly began to roll around, repositioning herself on the bed-but she miscalculated slightly and ended up rolling off the bed. Chiya immediately shot open her eyes as she could feel herself sliding right off the bed, momentarily landing roughly on the floor.

"What the-"

Earl then jolted up startled and looked down at the floor, "Chiya, are you okay?"

Chiya rubbed her forehead and nodded, "I was having that cat dream again…"

Earl made a low grunt and nodded, "Ah."

Chiya slowly stood up with her legs shaking, she was still exhausted from little sleep. Earl then grabbed the pillow and softened it up again, he smiled and looked back at her, "There, should make your dreaming even better."

Chiya nodded at him and turned around, "I'll be right back, I need some water for my mouth…"

Earl nodded and yawned, immediately sending himself back into the pillow, "Okay, well goodnight."

Chiya yawned and walked out of her bedroom, immediately walking down the kitchen hallway. She only had her eyes opened at the slightest, simply wanting to drink a glass of water, and rejoin Earl immediately after. Chiya walked into the kitchen silently on her toes, she stopped immediately upon entering the room and glanced over at the wall. Rose was on the cold floor using the fat of her arm as a pillow-her other arm was still raised up in the air, as it was connected to the wall via leash. Chiya lowered her eyebrows sadly at her, she was instantly reminded of her time as a bum in Mute City-where she was forced to sleep wherever she could no matter what the temperature was. All she had was the blanket Fiona had made for her. Chiya had eventually found the abandoned warehouse in Mute City, but even this was a dirty and rodent infested building.

Chiya let out a sigh as she stared at Rose's sleeping face, when asleep, she didn't look nearly as menacing-rather she looked like Chiya. Chiya walked up to the sink and grabbed a small glass from the cupboard, she immediately began to fill it up via the sink. Chiya quirked her mouth and turned off the cold water, turning up the hot water instead-she then began to fill the glass up with warm water. Chiya stopped a few moments later and began to drink the entire glass without hesitation.

"Chiya."

Chiya widened her eyes and forcibly swallowed the water, nearly choking on it as it went down. Chiya quickly spun around-the first thing she was faced with was the glowing color red. She squinted in confusion and momentarily could make out the black circles in the center of the red-Rose's pupils.

"R- Rose."

Rose was smirking at her, she then nodded, "I have a favor I want done from you."

Chiya narrowed her eyes at her, "Better be good…"

Rose nodded, "When I'm executed tomorrow-I want you to drink from my blood."

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, "Wha- what!? no way!"

"Since I'm to die, I would like to rejoin you-once again as a bodily fluid of yours."

Chiya stuck her tongue out in disgust, "Drink blood? What do I look like, a vampire?" Rose didn't respond to her, simply waiting for a more specific response. Chiya then raised an eyebrow at her, "Who says you'll be executed?"

Rose began to chuckle silently, "You all want me dead, all four of you, I'll be killed right here tomorrow, no doubt."

Chiya shook negatively, "You can be saved Rose, we'll just kill Black Shadow and you can live with-"

"Shut up, none of you can harm Black Shadow-I would never let you…"

Chiya shook negatively, "I know that isn't you talking, that's your clone speaking…"

"Witch!" she angrily corrected.

"Whatever!" Chiya angrily responded.

Rose dipped her head down and sighed, "The honest truth is, this is the last time I'll be seeing Black Shadow even if I were to get away," Chiya raised an eyebrow at her, "Black Shadow would have me killed anyways for failing my mission again, so why would I go back?"

Chiya raised her eyebrows and nodded, "Yes, good, forget about Black Shadow!"

"I haven't actually committed any crimes, maybe I can find some researchers to help me get rid of this programmed behavior, I would be able to live a happy life away from you guys and Black Shadow."

Chiya smiled and clapped her hands together, "Yes! Do it! Go for it!" she spat out excitedly.

Rose then smirked and dipped her head, "But alas, I'm doomed to die tomorrow-I'll never get to fulfill this dream…" Rose then slowly looked up at Chiya, "Believe me when I say, I don't want to kill you, rather I have to, but if I can possibly fix this, then I would try everything I could to do so."

Chiya slowly nodded at her, she then grabbed a kitchen knife and walked back up to Rose. Rose widened her eyes and gasped, Chiya stared down at her intensely, "Do you promise that if I do this, you'll go and get help?"

Rose blinked at her a few times, her glowing red eyes completely revealed to Chiya. Rose nodded her head constantly with an excited look, Chiya then lowered her eyebrows and slashed down at the leash roughly-separating Rose from the wall. Chiya stepped back from Rose as she slowly got up from the floor.

"Chiya…" Chiya nodded at her, Rose's lip was quivering as she looked into Chiya's blue eyes, "I don't know what to say…"

Chiya slightly smiled, "Get help Rose, I very much would like to be friends w-"

"Fingers crossed!" Rose shouted with an evil grin.

Chiya widened her eyes and gasped, "Huh!?"

Rose then beat her fist squarely across Chiya's face, knocking her down to the floor instantly. Rose then looked at the shattered window and smirked, "Chow!" she concluded as she leaped out the window-she had cut herself on the broken glass, but escaped without a struggle none-the-less.

Chiya got back up and reached down for her gun, but she didn't have it with her, as she had been sleeping. Chiya stomped her foot down and let out a loud whine of frustration. Seppuku and Earl immediately charged into the kitchen upon hearing noises, Seppuku already had his rifle drawn-Earl was for some reason holding their pillow. Chiya was holding her face in shame at what she had just done, Seppuku instantly looked at the wall and found that the leash was cut-and that Chiya was holding a knife.

Seppuku sighed and shook negatively, "You never cease to amaze me, Flower…"

"She said that she was going to get help fixing herself if I let her go, I don't understand…"

Earl raised an eyebrow at her, "You didn't account for the fact that a bad person might lie?"

Chiya made a shameful grunting noise as she shook negatively, because of her, they now missed a great opportunity at damaging the Dark Million organization. Earl wrapped his arm around Chiya and began walking her back to her room.

"It's okay Chiya, don't beat on yourself, mistakes happen…"

Seppuku stomped his foot down as he watched the two walk away, "She has every right to beat on herself, that was just boneheaded!"

"I'm so sorry…" Chiya muttered to Earl.

"We can talk about it in the morning, just accept that it happened and move on."

Chiya let out a heavy sigh, she still found herself wondering if Rose had spoken any of the truth. She was mainly wondering if Rose truly was miserable, or whether she did actually want to get away from Black Shadow and fix herself. These were questions she would now never have answered. Earl laid Chiya back down on her bed and momentarily joined her again. Chiya reluctantly laid her head back on the pillow again, but now found that she had a pain in her stomach. She had let her feelings once again jeopardize her mission.

Many hours later, Chiya remained sleeping in bed with a saddened look on her face, she knew that Dark Rose escaping was completely her fault, and that her friends and family were now at risk once again. Chiya tightened her closed eyes more as she could begin to smell something-something good to her. _What are they making in the kitchen..?_ she wondered. Chiya could then feel some warmth under her nose, and the scent got much more powerful, it was a scent she could remember-cookie dough.

Chiya opened her eyes and found Earl's hand up against her face, he was holding a chocolate chip cookie under her nose.

"Good morning."

Chiya grunted as she looked down at the cookie, she had been distancing herself from these ever since she was overweight. Chiya jolted back and gritted her teeth nervously, "E- Earl, get that away from me!"

Earl smirked and raised an eyebrow, "It's just a cookie Chiya, your mom made em'."

Chiya shook her head frantically, "I don't care! I don't wanna' be fat again!"

"Fat? You think one cookie is gonna' turn you fat?"

Chiya hesitantly nodded, "If I eat one, I'll want more, much more…" she then dipped her head down sadly, "Then you'll find me disgusting…"

Earl pushed the cookie back up to her face anyways, she widened her eyes and looked back up at him. Earl was smiling as he shrugged at her, "I'm content with you being a bit obese, as long as you don't become one of those huge whales that can barely move."

Chiya gasped and hesitantly put the cookie in her hands, Earl then stretched and picked up a jackboot, observing Chiya's footwear. Chiya sighed and dipped her head down, finally giving into temptation and taking a bite out of the treat. Memories of her childhood instantly sprung into her head as she took a simple taste of the chocolate. Earl smirked at her and nodded, Chiya began to nibble on the cookie more and closed her eyes as she ate it. _I hope he's telling the truth…_ Chiya then looked up at him slightly and could see the respectful look on his face-reassuring her that he was true to his word that he would be content with her being overweight. Chiya quickly finished the cookie and dropped her hands on her legs in disbelief.

"I- it didn't taste as good as I remember…"

"Meaning?"

Chiya shrugged and smirked at him, "It was good, but not as addicting as I recall."

Earl smirked at her, he then pulled out a canteen from his pocket and began unscrewing it, "If only that were the case with my drinking addic-"

Chiya quickly grabbed the canteen, "Uh, you can't drink alcohol here…" Earl grunted and widened his eyes, "Mysterian law, you're not in your thirties yet, therefore it is illegal."

Earl stood completely still with a baffled look on his face, Chiya smiled at him and patted his back, "I know you well Earl, I know you can cope with this for me."

"So, if I pay the added amount, I can get on Sand Ocean within the day, is what you're saying?" Earl asked Seppuku.

Chiya was standing in the kitchen with a quivering lip, saddened that Earl was trying to get off Mysteria because of alcohol. Earl was hardly regarding the fact that he had hurt her feelings, simply up at Seppuku's face about leaving for beer.

"Sorry to say, but we're stuck here for two more days, transport comes back for us the day after the race," said Seppuku.

Earl flailed his hands in the air, "Oh for God's sake! I can't go that many days without getting buzzed!"

Chiya put her hands on Earl's shoulder, "I- it's okay Earl, I'll do anything for you that-"

"Shut up Chiya!"

Chiya gasped and was completely sent back with a crushed feeling, Earl began to scratch his head violently-feeling like a trapped animal. Chiya began to walk away with watering eyes, feeling very hurt by Earl. Seppuku glanced over at Chiya and got a furious look on his face, he then grabbed Earl by the neck.

"Hey! Look what you just did to Flower you bastard!" Earl widened his eyes in response and tried turning his head around, Seppuku continued to shake Earl around, "You shut the Hell up and grow a pair, you don't think I'd like to get a glass myself?"

Earl narrowed his eyes at him, "Yo- you can have beer though!"

Seppuku puckered his lip and nodded, "Oh, that's right!"

He then took the canteen out of Earl's hand and began to drink the alcohol in front of him. Earl swiped it out of his hands and growled, Seppuku then stomped his foot down.

"Apologize to Flower, you hurt her stupid feelings."

Earl grunted and dipped his head down, he exhaled as he tried calming down. He then turned around to face Chiya, but she was already gone. Earl gasped and looked around constantly, "Aw, no, come on!"

Earl then walked away from Seppuku, trying to find Chiya. The first place he checked was the bedroom, but she wasn't in her room anywhere. Earl let out a distressed moan as he desperately looked around for a solution to the problem. The first clue he found was that her jackboots were now missing-meaning she was leaving.

"Jesus Christ…" he muttered as he began running towards the door, assuming that she was leaving in the _Purring Kitten_.

Earl then ran outside and practically leaped towards the _Purring Kitten_-but Chiya wasn't there either. Earl stood still and grunted, wondering where Chiya could have possibly gone, they were out in the country, so he knew that she couldn't have gotten far. It was then that he heard a door slam shut out in the distance. He turned his head towards the large shed in the back and found that it was now shut, he lowered his eyebrows sadly and began charging towards the shed. The shed was what Chiya referred to as the _Workshop_, large enough to fit vehicles in. Earl began to pant as he quickly made his way to the large shed, immediately placing his hand on the wooden door.

"This is a really primitive place…" he muttered while catching his breath.

He then slowly opened the massive wooden door and looked inside, it was fairly empty except for the massive amounts of metal tools that were in the shed. Earl took a step inside and was immediately faced with something displeasing to him. He found that Chiya was sitting behind a workbench silently crying. Earl gritted his teeth and rubbed the back of his head, suddenly feeling really bad for the way he snapped at her. Earl rarely saw Chiya cry, she only saw her cry when it was something unbearable-like memories of her father. He realized now just how bad he messed up to make her cry over him.

Earl slowly approached Chiya and knelt behind her, he then wrapped his arms just below her collarbone. Chiya jolted her head up startled and stopped whimpering, she quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Please don't cry Chiya, that wasn't the real me talking, it was the addiction…"

"I- I wasn't crying!" she wiped her eyes some more and pouted, "People who cry are babies…"

Earl shook negatively at her comment, he then lifted her back up on her feet and patted her back, "I'm sorry Chiya, I swear that I don't actually wanna' leave, I just have a hard time going without my daily liquor."

Chiya dipped her head down, trying to hide her face from him, "You weren't like this the other days, you didn't even bring up beer those days…"

Earl frowned, "Just didn't cross my mind, we've had more important things to do, drinking was on the bottom of my agenda."

Chiya crossed her arms and lowered her head even more, "I- I just…" she then swallowed and began to tear up some more, "I don't think I would want a family like this…"

Earl widened his eyes, somewhat feeling awkward by her dream to start a family. He coped through this none-the-less and patted her back again, "Don't worry, I'll never become abusive or anything, I put family and honor before beer."

Chiya smiled and nodded, "I know, I just don't want any of my children feeling threatened by their father."

Earl then grunted and began to turn red, now he felt especially awkward that she mentioned her desire to have children, "Uh, uh, you don't have to worry about that…" he then puckered his lips and rubbed his forehead uncomfortably, "Exactly, how many children do you think you'll want?"

Chiya quickly spun around with a gleeful smile, "Ten!"

Earl began to tremble and felt a shock go down his pine, "Oh my…"

Earl had much later taken Chiya into New Edinburgh, they were now at a mall-in a clothing section for the third time. Luckily for Earl, Chiya hadn't taken him straight to the undergarments section like usual. Chiya had her boots off and was nervously letting Earl hold her foot-he was the first person she was letting touch her feet at all. Earl held up a black leather boot and raised an eyebrow. Chiya shook negatively at the boot.

"I want something like the ones I've always been wearing."

Earl looked at her worn out jackboots and shrugged, "Well you really shouldn't have been wearing those all these years, it probably changed the shape of your foot by now."

Chiya looked at her foot and nodded, noticing that her toes were no longer spread out like they should, rather they were closing in towards the center of her sock. Earl then held up another black boot, this one had some white fur going around it. Chiya shook negatively, Earl then got a frustrated look.

"Well, why don't you look then?"

"I want the same looking boots I've always worn."

Earl sighed, "Those are jackboots, they aren't stylish, so no one sells them."

"They are too stylish…" she defended.

Earl held up a flip flop and raised an eyebrow, Chiya narrowed her eyes at him and growled. He then held up some black leather boots, almost like a jackboot-only they looked more like dress shoes.

"O-ooh!" she said in awe at the boot.

Earl began putting the boot on for her, Chiya's lips were puckered as he brought it up her foot. Earl smirked as it appeared to be a perfect fit-Chiya appeared very excited at this, as the boot was both darker and much more shiny than her jackboots.

"Nice!" she said excitedly.

Earl nodded as he put the other boot on her, Chiya was kicking her feet around excitedly afterwards. She hadn't gotten to go shopping like this before, bringing a gleeful teenage like burst of excitement into her body.

"I love them!" she said excitedly as she stood up.

Earl smiled and nodded at her, "I hope you'll forgive me for yelling at you now."

"Damn right I will!"

Earl had also purchased new shoes, but they were for the most part similar to what he usually wore. Chiya then forcibly grabbed his hand and began skipping towards the counter, ecstatic to check the new boots out. She had left her original pair behind.

The day had passed, and it was once again night time, the two were now in the bedroom again, but Chiya hadn't taken her boots off ever since she put them on. Earl was standing in the middle of her bedroom shadowboxing, trying to keep up with his Seoli Idong skills. Chiya was still kicking her feet around as she watched him shadowbox, she was wondering whether she should finally get the next lesson from Earl-as it seemed that every time she met with Excalibur, they ended up fighting in Seoli Idong style.

Seppuku and Fiona were once again in the kitchen together, both were sitting at the table calmly with each other. Seppuku tipped his fedora to her.

"How about it Flower, has your daughter changed much while she's been gone?"

Fiona tilted her head with a puzzled look, "Kind of, I still see my same beautiful daughter when I look at her, but she has certainly changed," she smirked at Seppuku, "Quite frankly, I'm surprised that she agreed to the line of work you guys do, I can't say I approve, but it's her life now, and she leads it the way she wants to."

Seppuku nodded, "That's about the best thing a mother can do for a child."

Fiona dipped her head down and sighed, "Abigail sure missed Chiya all these years though, she felt as though she had lost her best friend forever."

Seppuku chuckled and crossed his arms, "Knowing Chiya, she'll probably be begging me to help find her, I'm sure she won't be satisfied until she knows that her entire family is safe."

Fiona smiled at Seppuku and nodded, "Do you think of yourself like a father figure to Chiya?"

Seppuku nodded, "Of course, you should've seen what I did to the inmates trying to rape your daughter when we were in the middle of that one prison riot." He then got an angry look on his face, "I'll be damned if I'm gonna' let some dirty men steal something that special from her…"

Fiona grunted, "My daugh- she's still a-"

Seppuku nodded, "She is keen on the idea that she wants to do that only with the person she'll marry."

Fiona blinked a few times at him, then exhaled in relief, "Her friends were always so perverse, I assumed that Chiya had joined in on one of their _sessions_ before she even left Mysteria."

Seppuku shook negatively, "Her latest medical record still labels her as a virgin, she is indeed an honorable woman who wants to grant this to the one she loves."

Fiona smiled, "She must be strong like I was, I waited until I was married to Robert, had two children, and now…"

"Now you're living a sad life."

Fiona closed her eyes and slowly nodded, Seppuku chuckled and stood up, walking up next to her. Fiona slightly opened her eyes and looked up at him, "Both me and Chiya are the romance types, I always pictured myself living the fantasy life, but I've never met anyone ever again as nice as Robert…" The two continued to stare at each other for a few moments, her eyes began to quiver at him, "Not- not for a long time…"

The two continued to stare aimlessly into each others eyes, Fiona then slowly stood up while still looking at him.

Chiya was laughing loudly as Earl had clumsily fallen to the ground while shadowboxing. Earl found some humor in his own clumsiness and laughed as well.

"You amaze me Earl, you knocked yourself off your feet just like that…"

Earl rubbed his head and nodded, "I haven't practiced in a while."

Chiya continued to giggle as she walked towards her door, she pointed back at him and puckered her lips, "Don't knock yourself out while I'm getting a soda."

Earl rolled his eyes at her playfully and got back on his feet. Chiya continued down the hallway with a gleeful smile on her face, she had gotten Earl out of his desperation for alcohol for the time being. Considering the race would be starting the following day, Chiya needed Earl to have a clear mind so he could guide her. Chiya continued to smile as she thought about Earl, still slightly laughing at the fact that he had knocked himself down on accident.

Chiya took a step into the kitchen, but the next thing she saw completely sent her smile into a look of awe. Chiya took a heavy step back and let out a long and very loud gasp. Seppuku and Fiona were kissing each other. Chiya let out a scream of horror and closed her eyes tightly. Everyone in the house was alarmed at Chiya's loud screaming, including Earl. Seppuku and Fiona both let go of each other and looked at Chiya surprised-expecting that the two had went to bed.

"Mo- mom!" Chiya spat out in extreme fright.

Fiona took a step towards Chiya and held her hands out, "Sweetie it's not-"

Chiya shook negatively and immediately began running back to her room with an adrenaline rush, Fiona watched as her daughter took the news very heavily-clearly upset by this greatly. Seppuku smirked and wrapped his arm around Fiona.

Chiya slammed the door shut and locked the door behind her, she immediately leapt onto her bed and forced herself into her pillow. Earl widened his eyes and ran up to her quickly.

"Chiya! What's wrong!?"

Chiya was kicking her feet up and down constantly as she hid her face deep inside her pillow. She was making several low pitched grunting sounds as she constantly beat her hand onto the side of her bed.

"Chiya! Calm down, whatever it is, we can tackle this together!"

Chiya looked up at Earl with completely traumatized eyes, she was hyperventilating greatly, "M- mom and Seppuku, they were- were-" Earl lowered his eyebrows at her and gritted his teeth, mere seconds later, a knocking was at her door.

Earl turned around and approached the door, seeing that Chiya was failing to complete her sentence. Earl opened the door a crack and saw Fiona standing in front of the door, he then opened it for her and stepped aside. Chiya glanced at Fiona for a moment, then let out a loud moan. Fiona put her hand on Earl's shoulder.

"Dear, can you step out for a moment, I need to have a private conversation with my daughter."

Earl bowed to her with a puzzled look, he then stepped outside of her room and closed the door behind him. Fiona looked back at Chiya sadly, saddened that Chiya was taking this news so badly. Fiona sat down on the bed with Chiya and put her hand down on her shoulder. Chiya immediately slapped Fiona's hand away from her, still keeping her face in her pillow. The two remained silent for a few moments, Chiya wasn't crying, but she was deeply hurt and in a distraught state.

"Please mom, don't marry Seppuku! Don't marry Seppuku!"

Fiona sighed and patted her shoulder, "Chiya, don't you want me to be happy?"

Chiya whipped her face towards her angrily, "What about dad! Dad was the greatest person ever! How could you betray him like this!?"

Fiona remained silent and sighed, "Chiya, I don't think you understand, but we've never been romantically attached to each other since you were a baby."

Chiya gasped and shook negatively, "N- no! That's a lie! We always had family nights!"

"For you, and Abigail." Chiya felt her eyes tighten up in amazement, "If it weren't for the fact that you two were born, we probably would've divorced."

Chiya held her forehead in shock, "Oh my God, I'm gonna' be ill…"

Fiona grabbed Chiya cheeks, "You can still love your dad, even I still love him, I just- I lost the spark with him so long ago, the day he died was the last time I truly missed him."

Chiya held her face and shook negatively, "You can't marry Seppuku, I don't want him to be my step dad…"

Fiona smirked at him, "It was just a kiss Chiya, it was never established that we would be getting married."

Chiya rubbed her stomach with a sickened look, "I'm seriously going to be ill, I did not need to see that."

Fiona stood up and sighed, "Come see me when you want to talk about this, I'm just going to let you calm down a bit first."

Chiya slightly nodded with a distraught look, Fiona then opened the door and let Earl back in. Earl immediately ran up to Chiya and sat next to her.

"Is everythin-"

"Seppuku and my mom, are soft on each other…"

Earl widened his eyes, "You mean, they're-"

"Yes."

Earl held his forehead in disbelief, "Seppuku? Father in law?" he muttered nervously.

Chiya held her face again and began to groan, she then held her stomach again and widened her eyes at Earl, "Get me a garbage bin, I'm gonna-"

Her mouth then began to bloat up, Earl widened his eyes and gasped as Chiya was still staring at him, about to vomit.

"Oh Go-od!" Earl yelled from her room.

Seppuku and Fiona looked back at her door, Seppuku still had a prideful look on his face. Fiona had a somewhat disappointed look, as she was hoping Chiya would initially understand her position.

The day was mostly a bad one for Chiya, the best part being where she got her new boots. Dark Rose was free, Earl had snapped at her before, and now Fiona kissed Seppuku; considering that Chiya would be racing the following day, she had plenty of problems on her plate. It would surely be a stressful race.

To be continued…


	50. Lap 49

==Lap 49=

"You're an idiot Rose…" Black Shadow scolded.

Black Shadow and Blood Falcon were watching a 20 foot red hologram of Dark Rose in the throne room, she was still on Mysteria. Rose dipped her head down and sighed.

"I- I swear master, it was an honest miscalculation."

Black Shadow grinned, "I don't think you understand Rose, I don't need you, I could destroy you with no regrets-I keep you around merely because I thought you might be able to kill," Black Shadow flailed his hand in the air, "But by the looks of it, you can't even do something as simple as killing a stay-at-home mother."

Rose shook negatively, "She was with Seppuku, a miscalculation! I don't know why he was speaking with mom at the time."

"I don't care, you failed and were captured, how much information did you leak?"

Rose dipped her head down, "Minimal, I managed to divert the interrogation by whining about my own life."

"Good, good, but you still failed none-the-less…"

Rose growled, "Maybe if you would outfit me better like you do for everyone else, I could do everything for you," she then rolled her eyes, "I mean, a Luger? Really? That's an ancient weapon, why not a laser or something?"

Black Shadow slammed his hand down, "Never question me! Do I need to punish you yet again?"

Rose gasped loudly and shot her eyes open, "N- no!"

"Blood Falcon's been looking to try out his new moves on a living target, should I lock you two up in a chamber and let him practice on you?"

Blood Falcon smirked and pulled his glove down more tightly, Rose gritted her teeth nervously, "No! No! No more punishment! I'll pull this off, I swear!" She lowered her head and closed her eyes after sighing, "I swear I will, just no more torture…"

The birds began to chirp, and sunlight could just slightly be seen through the thick fog that covered Mysteria. The day of the third race was here, this was usually the point where people could determine who the possible winners of the Grand Prix would be-by the end of the fourth race, is when it was certain who the winners may be-usually judging on the six top ranking racers. The last race had put Chiya in a bad position, but the good ranking she took on Fire Field kept her in an average spot-still able to win the Grand Prix if she buckled down. Lieutenant Seppuku was more likely to win than her however.

Earl slowly began to wake up, he didn't open his eyes, he had a very relaxing night of sleep-even though Chiya had been going on about her mom kissing Seppuku for hours as they both tried sleeping. The two had fallen asleep without a solution to the problem, Chiya simply respected her true father too much, and didn't want to consider Seppuku as her father in law. Earl had succeeded, however, in calming her down for the most part, getting her to at least accept that her mom had limitations and needed to feel loved as well. Chiya was content leaving the situation alone for the time being.

Earl smiled and moved his hand up, reaching for Chiya's hair-it could be argued that Earl had a thing for girls hair and skin; Chiya was suspicious that Earl had a foot fetish, as he commonly brought up foot rubs with her in conversations. Earl waved his hand around, but wasn't making contact with Chiya's hair. He then slightly opened his eyes and found that Chiya was not in the room with him-her waking up before him was rare. Earl then sniffed the air a little and cringed after smelling something.

"Oh God, whatever they're baking in the kitchen, it's burnt."

Seppuku and Fiona were both in the same bedroom together, but in different beds. Seppuku and Fiona both woke up at the bad smell that was filling the house. Fiona cringed and sat up, looking over at Seppuku.

"Oh, good morning, I thought you were the one bakin-"

"No, it must be Bendek baking…"

The two momentarily got up and walked towards the door, they both stopped and grunted at the sight of Earl-who had exited Chiya's bedroom at that moment. Earl widened his eyes and silently ran over to the two.

"Wait, if you two were sleeping, then who's-"

All three then jolted up straight and gasped at the sound of Chiya gleefully humming a song in the kitchen. Seppuku and Earl both gritted their teeth and began looking around frantically for an alternative way out of the house. Seppuku grabbed Fiona's shoulders and began to shake her.

"How do we get out of here woman!?"

Fiona began to panic, she swallowed and widened her eyes, "The only way out involves us going through the kitchen…"

Seppuku snapped his fingers, "Damn it all!"

"Now, now, hold on, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves, just because it smells bad, doesn't mean-"

"She's baking crap Bendek, and you know it!"

Earl lowered his eyebrows, "Well, the Chiya snacks were good as I recall-"

"Crap, she's making crap Bendek."

Fiona grabbed Earl's arm and nodded, "He's right Seppuku, maybe Chiya just burnt some of it, she sounds pretty happy."

Seppuku smirked, "Well only one way to find out," he looked at Earl, "Time to take one for the team soldier…"

Chiya was bouncing up slightly while gleefully singing to herself, she was going to several parts of the kitchen consistently. Earl slowly peered around the corner and looked at her, he swallowed nervously-preparing to speak with her. He very slowly approached the singing Chiya and got behind her, extending his arms slowly as he snuck up behind her. Chiya took out a tray from the oven and placed it on the counter, beginning to sprinkle salt over the tray of snacks. Earl then softly placed his arms around her waist and moved his chin over her left shoulder.

"What'cha baking Chiya?"

Chiya let out an excited smile at the site of Earl, she then wrapped her arm around him and forcibly brought his head over her shoulder.

"Cookies!" The tray had very dark brown cookies with salt over them, "Sort of…"

Earl widened his eyes at the cookies, "Uh, so chocolate cookies then?"

Chiya rubbed her chin and lifted up a box, "Uh, no, not exactly…"

She was comparing the cookies on the box to the ones she made-the ones on the box were very golden looking, while hers was practically black. Earl grunted and stepped away from her.

"Well, nice work, gotta' go, gonna' check on the Purring Kitten!"

"W- wait, but I made these for you!"

Earl shut his eyes and grunted, "Oh, that's, nice…"

Chiya handed him a cookie-it practically crumbled as she dropped it in his palm. Earl lowered his eyebrows and rubbed his forehead nervously. Fiona and Seppuku were observing him from around the corner, waiting to see if the cookies were fine or not. Earl was making several grunting sounds as he continuously glanced up at Chiya and the cookie, she was waiting with an excited smile for him to taste it. After a few moments, Chiya frowned and dipped her head down sadly, realizing that she did a bad job.

"Oh, alright I get it, I suck, I know…"

Earl shook negatively, "No, no, I'm just…"

He glanced back up at her, she had an intrigued look on her face. Earl grunted again and momentarily placed it in his mouth, he immediately began to chew on it-he was immediately bothered by both the burnt taste, and salt that she had applied for reasons unknown. Earl was struggling to keep a content look, but momentarily swallowed the cookie and gave her a thumbs up.

"Damn, that might have been the best cookie I ever had actually, you'll always be my favorite cook…" he lied.

Chiya clapped her hands together excitedly, "Yay! Because I made ten more for you!"

Earl gasped and widened his eyes, she then put the cookies in a plastic bag and handed them to him, "You can eat them while you watch me race! It'll motivate me!"

Earl shut his eyes, his mouth beginning to quiver, "Yes, uh, thank you Chiya…"

Seppuku and Fiona then walked into the kitchen together, pretending like they had just woken up a minute ago. Seppuku let out a yawn and clapped his hands together, "Welp, are we ready to race?"

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "Yeah! This is it, I know it! I take first this time!"

"You've been doing okay up to this point, the last race was kind of stolen from you," said Seppuku.

Fiona clapped her hands together excitedly, "I can't believe I get to watch an F-Zero race in person! And more importantly, I'm watching my daughter race!"

Earl chuckled, "She's a good racer, I have every belief that she'll win the Grand Prix several times in her lifetime."

Fiona patted Earl's back, "This will also be a good time for us to get to know each other more."

Earl nodded, "You think you could cope with me not talking to you the entire race Chiya?"

She nodded, "Don't leave your headset off though, make sure you speak to me if I'm in danger."

Seppuku smirked, "Then let's go, Bendek, you drive the Red Dove there, Little Flower, drive the Purring Kitten, me and Fiona will drive there via her car."

Earl raised an eyebrow at the request for him to pilot the _Red Dove_ for him, Chiya began to grind her teeth in frustration at the idea of Seppuku and Fiona further spending any time together.

"Let's just go…" Chiya said angrily.

Much later, Chiya and Seppuku had arrived at the Mist Flow race track-they had parked their vehicles in their garages and were now standing around Chiya's garage. Earl had bid farewell to Chiya and went off to show Fiona around, showing her the private booth, concession stands, and cantina. Chiya had a good advantage on Mist Flow, it was her homes track and the one she studied most of all as a teenager. While all the other racers were suddenly studying the track, Chiya was well prepared-remembering exactly how it went. She had commonly visited the race track with her friends during high school, but she had never actually obtained the funds to see a race in person.

Seppuku quirked his mouth and looked at Chiya, "Neither of you told me that the Red Dove was shot up to Hell…"

Chiya gasped and held her mouth, "Oh my Gosh, I- I'm so sorry!"

Seppuku looked off into the distance, "Whatever, just knocks off some style points, it didn't damage my machine at all."

Chiya nodded, Seppuku then grabbed a clipboard that was hanging outside of her garage, it contained information for her to read about the garage-but he simply flipped the paper over and walked back over to Chiya.

"Drawing utensil," he demanded.

Chiya blinked a few times at him, she then lowered her eyebrows and pulled out a sharp pencil. Seppuku knew that she carried this around, as she was always drawing in her spare time. Seppuku began to draw a rough sketch of the Mist Flow map, Chiya raised an eyebrow at him in confusion-as he usually never felt the need to make a game plan.

"Memorization is the key here, this fog could be the death of us if we're not careful."

Chiya stuck her tongue out, "I can handle it, this is _my_ planet after all…"

"Yeah, six years ago, now you're a Japanese citizen." Chiya nodded at him, simply respecting his wish to keep her safe on the track, he pointed the pencil at a long stretch on the track, "Landmines, to the left side, then the right-stay in the center at all costs."

Chiya gasped at the mentioning of landmines, she was still frightened of these after her experiences with them at her F-Zero evaluation. Seppuku then pointed at the second long stretch the track had, which also had a short restoration pad.

"Right there, that's the war zone-I'm assigning you Blaskovitz and The Skull as your rivals."

Chiya glared at him, "Um, how about I just, you know, race?"

"You want Earl and Fiona to live, don't you?" Chiya grunted and began to nod quickly, "Killing even just one of these bastards will increase our survival chances greatly."

Chiya groaned and scratched the back of her head, "Blood Falcon, I assume?"

Seppuku nodded, "Me and Falcon will work on him, but let's be honest-killing him is unlikely."

Chiya gasped, having remembered something, "Hey wait! Jody and the Federation have to help us now, don't they?" She roughly grabbed Seppuku's clipboard, "Me and Earl risked our skin for them on Magica, remember the deal we had?"

Seppuku nodded, "We'll bring it up to her, but don't expect the bat to live up to her promise, typical Federation trying to squirm out of their obligations…"

Earl and Fiona reentered the private booth minutes later, the racers were now being introduced, but Chiya had placed a low rank last time, so she wouldn't be introduced right away. Earl was just concluding his pre-race prep with Chiya on his headset, Fiona was watching in fascination at Earl's ability to preach.

"Good luck Chiya, stay sharp, I would expect Skull to pull another trick on us."

"This race is mine!" Chiya concluded.

Earl pressed the mute button on his microphone, he could still hear Chiya-but she wouldn't be able to hear him until he un-muted the microphone. Earl looked over at Fiona and raised an eyebrow, she was leaning out the opening of the booth, watching all of the F-Zero machines come into place.

"You and Chiya get to do this all the time, for free…" she muttered in awe.

"Yep, last year I had the joy of spending each race with her up here, but to be honest, I prefer her down on the track where she's happy." He smiled as he looked down at Seppuku, who was in his usual _clique_ with Captain Falcon, Jody Summer, and Blood Falcon. "I just wish she didn't have people trying to kill her, it'd make this a lot more enjoyable."

Fiona nodded, "How many are trying to hurt her?"

"On the track, three, in general, she has five."

Fiona swallowed nervously, "Yo- you're protecting her outside of the races, right?"

Earl smirked, "She was captured by Black Shadow, tortured, and thrown in a cold room in an unknown part of space," he then grinned, "I threw my cards down and went for her, and I managed to save her."

Fiona blinked a few times, "You're the one who rescued her?"

Earl nodded, "I also patched her cuts up and got the bullet she took out of her-I've had to remove bullets from her many times in the past actually."

Fiona lowered her eyebrows at him, "And how much are you getting paid to do this, exactly?"

Earl chuckled, "Not enough, but I don't care, if I cared about Seppuku's money, I woulda' just left, but I stayed for Chiya."

Fiona continued to stare at him with a proud smile, she was simply staring at Earl with good thoughts, realizing that he wasn't like any of Chiya's high school friends.

"Sweet, loveable, yet ferocious, Mysteria's very own, Chiya Flower!" the announcer shouted.

The _Purring Kitten_ drove up the track quickly, doing a very professional slide to the starting line. Earl was completely amazed to hear something, everyone was cheering and going wild at her appearance-even more than Captain Falcon. Chiya truly was a renowned and respected person on her planet. Earl and Fiona were both smiling at the sight of Chiya, she immediately jumped out of her machine and began sprinting towards Seppuku-wanting to get as much out of the conversation as possible.

Fiona looked back at Earl, "So, you're quite fond of my daughter then?"

Earl immediately lowered his eyelids and began to blush, but he didn't fight the question at all, "Damn right, Chiya's an amazing woman, I would be miserable if she were out of my life."

Fiona chuckled and looked back out the track, "Well Earl, I wasn't sure what to make of you at first, but I think I can already see that you truly care about her, not focusing on her purely for sex or anything."

Earl nodded, "Nope, if she's ready for that, then I will too, but I'm not gonna' be the one who proposes the idea."

"But you are willing to do that with her, if she asked?"

Earl hesitated to respond, he momentarily put his hands together and quirked his mouth, "Yeah, I guess, if Chiya's not my soul mate, then I don't think anyone is."

Fiona put her hand on his shoulder, "Perhaps I should warn you about something then, so you can try and help her before this happens." Earl blinked at her a few times in confusion, Fiona then smirked, "Because I'm sure you don't want to hurt her."

Earl shook negatively very quickly, "Oh no! I couldn't bear to hurt Chiya."

"Well, you probably shouldn't tell her that I told you about this, but I think maybe you could help her out-as I'm sure she'd listen to you."

Fiona looked at Chiya again, she was up close with Seppuku-clearly showing fear towards Blood Falcon. Fiona then slowly looked back at Earl, "Chiya was born with an abnormally small part…"

Earl was giving her a confused look, initially not understanding what she was saying. Fiona could read the confusion off of his face and exhaled, "Meaning, it would be very, very, uncomfortable for her when you enter-"

"Oh! Geez…" Earl responded with a red face.

Fiona nodded, "Chiya was always very against the idea of touching herself, sexually, typically becoming very offended when I suggested this."

Earl rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, "Okay, I don't think I could just go ask her to start mast-"

"No, no, I'm going to guess that she's still against doing it, so we were told an alternative way to stretch it out-involving various forms of stretching exercises."

Earl grunted and swallowed again, "What kind of stretches would she have to do? Like Yoga?"

Fiona then began to turn red and glanced away from him, "N- no, it would still involve her touching herself…"

Earl groaned and face palmed, "I have no idea how to approach Chiya with this…" He then smirked, "At least I'm not the only one that's little…" he muttered softly.

"Little Flower worked her ass off Summer, I expect you to cooperate…" Seppuku said angrily.

Jody crossed her arms, "That mission turned into a massacre, why would I do that?"

Chiya narrowed her eyes at Jody, "Because! You even said you would if the mission went bad, you had the whole Lily plan made out before you made the deal!"

Seppuku nodded, "That's right, you and me established Lily would come save them if they were compromised, they were, and Lily killed-not Flower and Bendek."

Jody smirked at them, "Well, have you found Michael Chain yet?"

Seppuku shook negatively, "Close, but we need more time, and I intend on heading back to Mute City tomorrow."

Jody narrowed her eyes at him, "Was I not clear that you would be going to prison if you left without him dead?"

"You're an idiot if you do that, we're on his trail, and trust me, I have my own grudge against Chain-we'll be back."

Jody hummed for a few moments, then looked at Chiya, "I'm probably coming back to see my mom anyways, you might as well just let us do this our way."

Jody noticed that all of the racers were almost in position, she growled and face palmed, "Fine, fine, you can head back to Mute City whenever you want then, but until you nail Chain, I'm not helping you guys."

Seppuku sighed, "Yep, what'd I tell you Chiya?"

Chiya nodded with an angered look, "They as might as well just side with Dark Million…"

Jody returned an offended look, but Chiya had begun her descent back to the _Purring Kitten_, ready to get the race underway. Everyone got inside of their F-Zero machines and waited for the race to start. Chiya tapped her cheek a few times, disappointed that Earl would talk to her at a minimum. Naturally, Chiya was too impatient and decided to pick up her headset again.

"Are you and mom having a good talk?"

Earl hesitated to respond after un-muting his microphone, "U-uh…"

"At this time, racers may start their engines!"

Chiya turned on her engine and set her maximum speed up, she was one of the few racers that wasn't going to let the fog frighten her. She looked up at Seppuku's private booth and found that Earl and Fiona were watching her. Chiya smirked and gripped the wheel more tightly.

"This is the turning point, where I officially put myself in the top six!"

Earl smiled and nodded, "Good luck then."

Chiya looked up again and could see that the two were conversing with each other, she exhaled and looked in front of her. She would have to pass several vehicles before she could hit the lead. Chiya was determined to do her people proud.

Three. Two. One. Go!

Chiya immediately accelerated and ran right into the _Queen Meteor_ on accident. Fiona let out a gasp immediately, but Earl merely chuckled.

"Don't worry Mrs. Flower, that's just a bump, probably didn't even hurt her."

The _Red Dove_ and _Blue Falcon_ got the initial grab on the _Blood Hawk_-leading the pack of racers. Captain Falcon was driving carefully alongside Seppuku, but he was always careful around Seppuku-ever since the final race of the previous Grand Prix. Seppuku glanced over at the _Blue Falcon_ and found that he was slowly outrunning it.

"What? The famous Falcon's scared to go maximum speed?" Seppuku joked aloud.

He then growled as he saw Antonio Guster begin to tail him, Guster was still feeling hostile towards Seppuku after the Aeropolis race. Captain Falcon slowed down and got behind Seppuku-blocking Guster from running into the _Red Dove_. Seppuku smirked at this and nodded in approval, he squinted and could see the _Blood Hawk_ right in front of him-the glow from the _Red Gazelle_ was slightly visible up ahead. Gazelle was the one leading the race right away, his cybernetic vision helped him get through the fog without a struggle.

"Cheating hunk of metal…" Seppuku muttered.

Chiya was finding great success so far on the track, moving her way up to tenth place-but Brock was right behind her, to make matters worse, Skull had fallen behind and was right in front of her. Chiya was constantly looking around for a solution to the predicament, but found that anything she did could result in her getting critically attacked. She gritted her teeth as the _Stalin's Might II_ was slowly coming up to her side.

"Earl I need a walkthrough on this, now!"

"This is gonna' be a tough one, but you might need to accept that you're going to get side attacked by Brock."

"What!?"

Earl cleared his throat, "But, if you time it right, you can counter-attack with a spin attack-his side attack will backfire and completely mess em' up."

"What about Skull?"

"Worry about him afterwards, Brock should be on the top of your concerns right now."

Chiya nodded and waited for Brock to catch up with her. It was no secret to anyone that Brock cared little about the prize money, rather, he just wanted Chiya dead. Chiya licked her lips nervously as the shiny black metal of his machine began to move up to her side. Chiya lowered her eyebrows as she concentrated on Brock, and not the track.

"Oh- uh- la- landmines!"

Chiya gasped and dashed to the side, ramming right into Brock. She had nearly ran straight into a land mine.

"Right! Right!"

Chiya widened her eyes as the landmines were now coming up on the left side, rather than the right. She moved away from Brock, this time he was the one who nearly hit a landmine. Regardless, both had gotten out of the minefield in one piece. Chiya suddenly jolted up straight at the sound of an explosion, followed by a bright glow to her rear. She looked back and found that an F-Zero racer had hit a landmine.

The announcer began to chuckle, "That'll retire the Death Anchor from this race!"

Zoda, he technically works with Dark Million, is he my enemy then?

she wondered as she looked back. Chiya saw an upcoming shortcut-but it had two landmines in the middle of it. She smirked and took the challenge, cutting right into the narrow path. Brock took the safe route alongside Skull.

Earl gasped and looked at Fiona, "See? She's a risk taker, I have to respect that."

Chiya drove down the narrow road quickly, she was studying the two landmines carefully-making sure that she drove as straight as an arrow so she could get through them with ease. Chiya gritted her teeth, but flew right between the landmines-she then hit a boost pad and was sent straight at a quick speed. She then made a sharp turn, and just like that, she was in sixth place.

"Top of the morning to ya', bloody wankers!" she yelled victoriously to her rear.

Chiya was now behind the _Green Panther_, Captain Falcon was still right in front of him.

Both Seppuku and Blood Falcon were now gaining on Mighty Gazelle, even though Gazelle had helped Seppuku on Sand Ocean-he wanted him out of their way. Blood Falcon drove through the restoration strip, despite the fact that he was at full energy. This was a mistake, however, as a boost pad was up ahead away from the restoration strip-something Blood Falcon didn't know. Seppuku hit the pad and immediately passed Blood Falcon, now coming up behind Mighty Gazelle at top speed.

Seppuku and Gazelle both passed the checkpoint, entering the second lap. Blood Falcon momentarily boosted up to Seppuku and attempted to side attack him, but he had moved to the left just in time. Seppuku began to chuckle maniacally at the _Blood Hawk_.

"Oh, yes, you're real scary…" he muttered sarcastically.

Jody Summer momentarily came boosting up behind them, Seppuku grunted and quickly moved aside-Jody came in between them quickly and rammed Blood Falcon, she then bounced off of his machine and boosted again towards the _Red Gazelle_. Seppuku smirked at Jody as she quickly got away from the two.

"Kitty's got claws today…"

Earl scratched his chin as he watched Chiya, she was clearly nervous of passing Antonio Guster, she was still trying to figure out if he was hostile towards her after indirectly retiring him from the first race on Fire Field.

"Is my baby okay?"

Earl nodded, "She needs to get up by Captain Falcon, if she can do this, I have no doubt in my mind that she'll get up to at least fifth."

Earl then grunted at the sight of the _Stalin's Might II_ once again boosting for an abnormal amount of time, coming up right behind her, "Chiya, Blaskovitz is coming up to your rear, get in front of Captain Falcon now!"

"Bu- but Guster…"

"Captain Falcon won't let you get hurt, just boost in front of him!"

"Aye."

She then hit the boosters and flew up the track quickly, very slowly making her way past Antonio Guster-luckily he showed little intentions of attacking her. Chiya was surprised to see, however, that Captain Falcon wasn't instantly leaping to her side for help, and Brock was getting ever more closer to her.

"Earl, he's not helping me-e!" she panicked.

"He will, as soon as he realizes that you're in danger."

Chiya nodded and continued to drive forward, she could finally see Blood Falcon and Seppuku up ahead-she was determined to go help him, even if she already had her plate full with Blaskovitz.

Seppuku and Blood Falcon continued to run into each other-yet managing a consistent speed, none of their attacks were effective on each other, it was basically just a show for the racing fans. Seppuku growled as he constantly jerked his wheel roughly-trying to get an actual strong hit on him that might send him spinning. Seppuku looked up and found that they were approaching the minefield again-the destroyed _Death Anchor_ was up ahead. Seppuku smirked, preparing to push Blood Falcon to the side with all his might-as this would send him into the mines.

"Hi-i!" Chiya gleefully cheered aloud to herself as she suddenly came up on Blood Falcon's other side.

Seppuku gasped in anger as Chiya had instantly ruined his plan, "Dammit, why isn't she sticking to her own rival?"

Brock then drove up to Seppuku's side, he was staring at the _Red Dove_ intensely, "Ah, that's why."

The announcer slammed his fists down on his desk, "What an exciting turn of events! There isn't even enough passing room for the other racers!" He then began to rub his hands together as he looked at his co-host, "What do you think is going to happen!?"

The co-host began to chuckle maniacally, "More beautiful destruction…"

The two began to chuckle as they watched the four racers all struggle to fight each other.

Chiya was gritting her teeth nervously, there was no room to even attack each other at this point-the four were driving alongside each other down the track. There were nearly six racers behind them, desperately trying to break through the wall of vehicles. Seppuku was becoming infuriated at Chiya, but even more so after seeing what she just did. Chiya boosted away from the four, putting herself in third. Seppuku was now trapped in between his enemies because of her.

"Damn you Flower!" he shouted as he quickly came to a stop.

Blood Falcon and Brock continued up the track after Chiya, Seppuku was then passed by four other racers. Chiya looked back and bit on her finger, "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" she muttered at the sight of the two rivals.

She immediately took a turn into the shortcut again, Jody Summer had also taken the shortcut-who was right in front of her. Brock and Blood Falcon both chased Chiya down the narrow path with determined smirks. Earl was biting on his finger nervously as she faced this predicament. Chiya ultimately decided to boost-despite the fact that she had to get through the landmines in one piece. To her surprise, Blood Falcon and Brock both boosted after her.

"Steady Chiya!" Earl shouted as she was about to approach the landmines.

Chiya could slightly see the blinking red lights on the mine, she only had a second to react-but made it through none-the-less. Blood Falcon and Blaskovitz were still boosting, but amazingly, had no idea that there were landmines. Both racers gasped as they came up to the mines while still boosting-and both were on each others sides, there was no room. So they ran straight into the mines.

Chiya and Earl both gasped as the entire shortcut was suddenly engulfed with fire and smoke, the smoke and debris flying right past the _Purring Kitten_.

"Ho-oly!" Chiya yelled in amazement.

But something incredible happened afterwards, the _Blood Hawk_ came out of the explosion practically unharmed, the front of his machine was now practically black, and a large dent from hitting the mine visible-but regardless, Blood Falcon was fine. Brock, however, didn't come out of the explosion.

"How the Bloody Hell did he-"

"Forget about it, we got one out, just focus on the race!"

Chiya nodded and hit the boost pad, she then did a sharp turn again. She was now in second, with Jody Summer leading the race.

"Amazing! The Blood Hawk comes out of the explosion practically unharmed! But the same couldn't be said for Brock Blaskovitz!" the announcer shouted.

Fiona lowered her eyebrows, "Do- do they care that he might be dead?"

Earl shrugged, "Publicity, views, money, fame-the committee couldn't care less."

Brock momentarily stepped out of the smoke while coughing, his skin was now mildly burnt, and his machine was crisply destroyed. He looked behind him as the _Red Dove_ quickly came down the shortcut path, he then smirked and held his hand out.

"Taxi!" he said jokingly.

Brock somehow latched onto the _Red Dove_ as it passed by, hanging onto the back of it with one arm. Earl gasped as Brock began to climb on top of the _Red Dove_, slowly crawling up to the cockpit window.

"Crap!" Earl panicked.

"Not only is Brock Blaskovitz alive! But now he is crawling on top of Lieutenant Seppuku's machine!"

Seppuku lowered his eyebrows after hearing the announcer, he then looked up and could see the Russian's face looking down at him. Seppuku smirked, "Oh, hello."

Seppuku did a spin attack, Brock struggled to stay on his machine. Seppuku growled as he wouldn't let go of the cockpit, "Oh, come on!" He momentarily sighed and shrugged, realizing that Brock wouldn't budge. "Well, guess Bendek will have some repairing to do…"

Seppuku then stared at the safety rail, he held his seatbelt more tightly and began to boost right towards it-ignoring the turn completely. Brock widened his eye and gasped as Seppuku went towards the safety rail at top speed-momentarily crashing right into it intentionally. Brock was immediately ejected off the _Red Dove_ and flew off the track, going right into the thick fog. Seppuku now fell behind slightly, but immediately boosted towards the restoration strip.

Chiya, Mighty Gazelle, and Jody Summer were now all together with Blood Falcon tailing them carefully. It was now the final lap. Chiya glanced over at the _White Cat _and bit her lip intently. _Come on Summer, I would help you, why don't you help me?_ she thought panicking. Chiya then grunted as the _Sonic Phantom_ came behind the three as well.

"God! Where's Captain Falcon? Where's Seppuku!?"

Just when all seemed hopeless, an unexpected racer came up and completely destroyed the _Sonic Phantom_. Chiya and Earl both gasped, Antonio Guster had quickly come up and side attacked The Skull-retiring him from the race. Blood Falcon was now the only enemy of Chiya left on the track. Guster then got right behind Chiya, but he appeared to be mimicking the tactic Seppuku, Dr. Stewart, and Mighty Gazelle did for him on Sand Ocean. With Gazelle and Jody Summer on each side of Chiya, Guster was forming the last part of a defense-there was no way Chiya could be harmed as long as she was in the middle of all these racers.

"Is he helping me!?"

Earl smirked, "Don't know, but just accept it."

Unfortunately, Mighty Gazelle boosted away, reclaiming his position in first. Jody stuck with Chiya for a few more moments, but soon boosted as well. Chiya now felt forced to boost alongside them, as the defense was instantly broken-but it did buy her a few seconds of time away from Blood Falcon.

Chiya puckered her lips as she continued to race, she then got a gleeful smile, "Are you eating the cookies I gave you?"

Earl gasped and rubbed the back of his head, "Uh, yeah, I am right now-very good."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows, "Bu- but, I don't hear any crunching or anything…"

Earl's eye began to twitch, he then sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out the bag of burnt cookies. He then began to eat one slowly, "Really, be- because I am…"

Chiya smiled as she could hear the crunching of her horrid cookie, "Yay!"

She then boosted again, coming up against Jody Summer. Captain Falcon had finally made his way up to Blood Falcon again, relieving stress from Chiya. She exhaled and could finally focus solely on the race for a bit, knowing that Blood Falcon was the only enemy left-and she knew that he wouldn't be getting retired any time soon.

Seppuku was right behind Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon again, the front of the _Red Dove_ was now fairly bashed in from the crash he took-but luckily hadn't damaged the engine. Seppuku was originally angry at Chiya, but he knew that both Brock and The Skull were out-therefore her part of the mission was complete. All that was left was to deal with Blood Falcon, whether it was retiring his machine, or simply keeping him from winning.

The _Red Dove_ was being pursued by the _Golden Fox_, the first thing Seppuku noticed was the bright shine it had-as his machine had hit a landmine the previous race and needed complete reconstruction. Seppuku smirked as he passed the destroyed _Death Anchor_.

"Your minions can't do squat Shadow, just come down and race yourself…" he challenged aloud.

He boosted up towards both Falcons, avoiding the landmines that he was faced with. He grunted as he saw Captain Falcon take a hit, nearly being knocked right into a landmine. Seppuku began to chuckle at the sight of Captain Falcon nearly exploding, but had to accept that he was a temporary ally. Seppuku came up between the two and began pushing the _Blood Hawk_ away from Captain Falcon. Captain Falcon returned the favor by initiating a tactic, he bounced off the side of Seppuku-initially aggravating him, but he then got in front of the _Blood Hawk_ and hit the brakes. Blood Falcon immediately crashed into the back of Captain Falcon and growled as Seppuku then passed both of them with ease. Captain Falcon boosted away from the _Blood Hawk _immediately after.

Chiya once again drove down the shortcut, with both landmines destroyed, there was no reason for anyone to not take this path. Guster and Chiya drove alongside each other, Chiya could now confirm once and for all that he was not her enemy-but was strangely acting warm towards her.

"Oh God! Does he love me!?" she panicked aloud.

Jody Summer and Mighty Gazelle were both having an easy time racing, but both were challenging each other non-violently. Chiya was still determined to win, but she was quickly coming to the realization that she would place in third or fourth place. Guster boosted past her, deciding that he wanted the win for himself, Chiya smirked respectively and chased after him. She gasped at the sight of something-only it was nothing, there was no charred _Stalin's Might II_ on the track. It vanished.

"Where the Heck-"

She was then rammed from behind, she gasped and looked back-Seppuku was now right behind her. Chiya smirked and waved back at him, but she was surprised to see that he boosted past him.

"Hey!"

She boosted as well, but wasn't getting very far up ahead of him. Guster, Seppuku, and Chiya were now together in a cluster-all three racing each other to claim third place. Chiya then smirked and went down the restoration strip-but was surprised to see that those two did not.

"Wh- what are they doin-"

"Chiya, you should always take the boost pad over the energy in that scenario, 'fraid to say that you kinda' just screwed yourself there," said Earl.

Chiya grunted in frustration, boosting down the strip none-the-less, but Earl was right, the boost pad was much better than her boosters-sending both Seppuku and Guster up the track towards the finish line. Chiya would be getting sixth place.

"Damn…"

The race had ended. Mighty Gazelle took first place yet again, Jody second, Guster third, Seppuku fourth, and Chiya fifth. While it wasn't the result Chiya longed for, she still placed in the top six. Chiya smirked as she drove off the track, she shrugged and began to chuckle silently.

"Fifth, not bad, not bad at all…" she muttered to herself.

A while later, Earl, Seppuku, and Fiona were up in the private booth talking. Earl had made the decision that he would try getting Chiya to do various vaginal stretches at some point-but not for any sexual desires, rather because he wanted her to feel comfortable one day if the two ever had relations with each other. Earl and Chiya's life together was about all Fiona talked about with Earl while in the booth, ultimately making it an uncomfortable time for him. Not to mention, he had to eat yet another one of Chiya's cookies.

"So I see that Chiya is one of the better racers then," said Fiona.

Earl and Seppuku both nodded, "She's a Captain Falcon, I _know_ that much, she just needs to understand the rules and tactics better, and she'll be the greatest racer ever to set foot on the track one day."

Earl and Fiona looked up at Seppuku, surprisingly, even he was nodding affirmatively at Earl's belief. At that moment, Chiya ran up to the booth while panting, she looked Earl in the eyes and immediately charged towards him. Earl smirked and held his hands out, ready for a hug. Chiya ran into him and immediately reached into his jacket, grabbing the bag of cookies from him. She then turned around and began running again.

"Chiy-"

"I'll be right back!"

A few minutes later, Chiya made it back to the F-Zero garages, running desperately for a specific one. She ran past hers and was looking for garage number seventeen. She immediately came to a stop and tried catching her breath as she stared at the garage. She then began walking towards it, the _Green Panther_ was sitting perfectly still in the darkened garage. Chiya knocked on the wall of the garage and hesitantly walked in, but she was immediately startled at the sound of a gun cocking.

"Chiya Flower!"

Chiya spun around and found Guster aiming a shotgun at her, she held her hands up while trembling, "Antonio Gu- Guster!"

"What'cha doin' here girl?"

Chiya closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth, "I wanted to know why you helped me? Why did you save me on the track?"

Guster hesitantly lowered his shotgun, realizing that Chiya meant no harm to him. Chiya gasped as Guster removed his blue helmet, revealing a blue spiky Mohawk, Chiya's lip quivered at him for a few moments, but she then widened her eyes with a smile.

"Sweet!"

Guster walked up to Chiya and took off her stock hat, Chiya immediately lowered her eyebrows and grunted. Guster smiled and nodded at her, "As I expected, yer' just a sweet girl with driving smarts…"

"Yo- you got all that from my hair?"

Guster ignored the question and put his helmet back on, "I have to respect you, you're the only one who ever felt sympathy for me, back on Sand Ocean, I could tell that you were wishing for me to be free of my bounty."

Chiya nodded affirmatively, "To this point, you haven't done anything mean to me, or anyone, to my knowledge," she then narrowed her eyes and shook her fist, "And we both hate Goroh…"

Guster smirked, "Keep up that hate, and I will never be your enemy." He then quirked his mouth at her, "But I aint' joinin' your little alliance! Not with Seppuku leading it!"

Chiya bowed to him, "I understand, thank you, I don't know how I could ever-" she then beamed, "Oh wait, yes I do!"

Guster smirked at her, preparing for any kind of reward she may offer; money, a kiss, a gift. Chiya then put the bag of cookies into his hands, "Cookies!"

Guster grunted as he looked down at the burnt cookies, "U-uh…"

Chiya gave him a prideful thumbs up, "Yo-our welcome!"

To be continued…


	51. Lap 50

==Lap 50=

The third race was over, Chiya had taken fifth place while Seppuku took fourth. Mighty Gazelle was the one holding the overall rank of first place-but Seppuku had no worries that Mighty Gazelle would actually win, he was fearing, however, that Blood Falcon might have a bigger shot at winning for once. Once again, Seppuku found himself currently in a position where he might win the Grand Prix-and Chiya to a much lesser extent. But this would be ultimately be determined after the fourth race.

The plan was to originally stay until Michael Chain was dealt with, but Seppuku hadn't realized originally just how long they would actually be staying. They now had to leave Mysteria and return to Mute City, as the ticket they had purchased days ago would allow them onto the transport. If they missed the transport, they would be stranded on Mysteria without help. Seppuku, however, had every intention of returning to Mysteria to finish the job-especially Chiya, who now wanted Michael Chain dead so she could bring her mom out of debt. Little did Seppuku and Earl know, Chiya was more than determined, and was prepared to make a huge decision.

Earl began to open his eyes for the final time in Chiya's bed, the first night had been difficult for him, but in the end, he ended adapting to sharing such a small bed for Chiya. Even a couple were meant to have a somewhat large bed, but this was one built solely for a single person. He had become accustomed to cuddling with Chiya every night, but would at last get to return to his own bed in Mute City.

Earl was somewhat disappointed to find that once again Chiya was absent from the bed, he could still see that the bed and pillow had her imprint on it however, meaning she had only just gotten up. Earl then widened his eyes at the sound of a brushing sound, he looked over his shoulder and found Chiya sitting on the side of her bed. Earl smiled, but quickly gritted his teeth at the sight of her face, she was staring at the floor with watery eyes, a very sad look on her face.

Earl quickly leaned over and grabbed her arm, "Something bugging you? Is it the race?"

Chiya gasped and looked at him, she then frowned and shook negatively, "Uh, no."

"Wanna' talk about it?"

Chiya stared at him for a few moments, but then shook negatively, "Not now, I will after we meet up with Seppuku."

Earl lowered his eyebrows and nodded, he then put on his leather jacket and got in his shoes. As much as he enjoyed getting to meet Chiya's mother, see her home, and learn about her past; Earl was eager to get off of Mysteria. Mainly so he could drink again.

Chiya looked at him again and sighed, she then let out a forced smile and nodded, "Well, let's go then."

The two stood up together and began walking down the hall. Earl continued to study Chiya's face, it was clear to him that she was sad-but not hurt, he could tell the difference with her being sad and hurt.

"Is it that we have to leave your mother behind? Cause we'll be back, in fact, I bet we will next week."

Chiya shook negatively, "No."

Earl was now holding his bags, intending to put them in the _Red Dove_ before they bid their farewells to Fiona. Chiya and Earl both stopped once they entered the kitchen, Chiya widened her eyes and gasped at the sight of her mother. She was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, she was wearing a pink robe, pink slippers, and had very ruffled looking hair.

"M- mom, come on! That's not a very appropriate appearance to have in front of so many guests."

Fiona glanced at her and smiled, "Oh, sorry, I just, uh, had kind of a wild night…"

Earl and Chiya both appeared confused, Chiya crossed her arms and chuckled, "Let me guess, you and Seppuku got mad drunk?"

Fiona shook negatively, "No, no, we didn't drink at all."

Seppuku then came walking into the kitchen from the bathroom, he now had dripping hair and was tying his scarf around his neck again. Chiya grunted at him, seeing that he had taken a shower, she then narrowed her eyes at him. Fiona looked back at him and smirked.

"Good morning, Lieutenant."

"Good morning Seppuku!" Chiya spat hostilely. Seppuku smirked at Chiya and began to chuckle, "Glad to see you're enjoying the hot water at my mom's expense!"

Fiona held her hand out towards Chiya and shook negatively, "Please settle down dear."

Chiya stuck her tongue out at Seppuku, he then shook negatively at her, "You're twenty-four, huh?" Seppuku then chuckled and stretched, "Well Fiona, it's been a blast, but we really must be going."

Fiona frowned, "Oh, so you are leaving then…"

Seppuku nodded, "Oh, trust me, I'll be back for more."

More?

Chiya thought nervously. Earl held up his bag and looked at Chiya, "Well, I got my stuff, let me just help Chiya get packed and we can leave."

Earl then grabbed Chiya's hand and began to walk towards her room, but he quickly found that Chiya refused to move from her spot. Earl blinked a few times at her, her eyes then began to water more. Seppuku raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Gonna' let your man help you?"

Chiya's mouth then began to quiver as she looked down, "I'm so sorry Earl…"

Earl widened his eyes and let go of her hand, Chiya then began to tremble as she gritted her teeth, "I need to stay." Everyone then gasped at her, Chiya sighed and dropped her arms down sadly, "I need to stay and find Michael Chain…"

"Great idea Flower, go for it, don't come back to Earth for a month or tw-"

"Why Chiya? Can't you just wait a few days? We'll be coming back to finish this up."

Chiya shook negatively, "I'm not gonna' let Don Genie keep bossing my mom around. As long as I'm here, Dark Rose won't hurt her, Don Genie won't starve her, and I can take care of her," she then dropped a tear and nodded, "I'm sure you of all people, Earl, can respect my decision to help my family, whatever the cost."

Earl exhaled and nodded, he too was someone who valued his family as the dearest thing to him-only he was now without a family, so he considered Chiya his family. Earl then smiled and dropped his bag, immediately patting her back.

"Well forget the transport, Seppuku can head back on his own, I'm staying here wi-"

"No!" she instructed as she lifted his bag up. Earl gasped as she forced the bag back into his hand, a few streams of tears then ran down her face as she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, "Don't you get it? Yo- you have your own life Earl, you and Seppuku need to head back and take care of business, make sure everyone is safe from Black Shadow!"

Earl growled challengingly, "To Hell with Black Shadow, and Mute City, I want to protect you!"

Fiona frowned at Earl's willingness to keep her daughter safe, mostly sad that Chiya wasn't respecting _his _wish. Chiya continued to shake negatively, "Please don't make this any harder for me Earl, you can already see that I'm crying…"

Earl lowered his eyebrows and found his eyes beginning to water, "I just don't want you getting killed, we die toget-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine Earl…"

She then got closer to him and grabbed his cheeks softly, "Just please, please, if you find any way of contacting me, do it, even if I need to travel to another city to pick up the call…" she closed in on his face, "If you can reach me, do it…"

Both young adults closed their eyes and positioned their mouths, but Seppuku had abruptly interrupted what was to be a passionate farewell kiss by grabbing Earl by the collar of his jacket. Chiya gasped and looked up at him, he then smirked and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm proud of you Chiya, you're self-advocating for yourself right now, trust me, you'll come out of this experience a stronger woman." He then smiled at her, "I couldn't ask more from you."

Chiya smiled at Seppuku and nodded, Earl let out a loud sigh and rubbed the back of his head, "How are you suppose to get back to Mute City? You can't buy tickets here."

"Five days, come for me in five days, wait for me at the New Edinburgh starport, I'll be there-I promise."

Earl's mouth began to quiver sadly, nearly breaking down himself. He then let out a distressed groan and began removing his jacket quickly. He then forced his jacket into her hands, she gasped and blinked a few times at him.

"Take it; let it keep you warm, use it for comfort, look at it for memories, do whatever you want with it."

Chiya gasped loudly and instantly began to burst into tears as she hugged the jacket very tightly. Seppuku gritted his teeth and rubbed the back of his head, "This is so stupid…" he muttered aloud.

Chiya finally forced herself onto Earl and hugged him tightly, she continued to cry over his shoulder as she squeezed tighter and tighter by the second. Earl was at first feeling emotional at this, but was soon finding it hard to breathe-she was squeezing him too tightly.

"Uh, okay, okay Chiya!"

Chiya let go of him momentarily and backed away, Earl began to breathe in, catching his breath again, "Man, you're stronger than you look…"

Seppuku grabbed Earl's shoulder, "Ready to go?"

Earl took one last look at Chiya and frowned, "Yeah, f- five days…"

Chiya nodded at him affirmatively. The fact was, Chiya had already done something similar to this before, Earl had gone days without Chiya during the winter, as she was in Korea for several days getting the perfect present for Earl. What made that moment different, was that Earl cared much more for Chiya now, to the point where he was struggling to comprehend the idea of being separated from her for so long. Along with missing her, he would have to cope with the fear of her being killed by the Dark Million organization, Michael Chain, Don Genie, or even the Mysterian military. The general fear he was having, was that in five days, he would return, but wouldn't find Chiya in the starport.

"Goodbye Earl…" she concluded.

Earl sighed and nodded at her, "I'll try my best to make contact with you."

Chiya nodded back at him, then looked at Seppuku, she narrowed her eyes at him and smirked, "Guess you won't be getting any further with my mother…" she silently muttered to him.

Seppuku let out a devious grin and began to chuckle, "After last night, I don't know how much further I could get with a woman like her."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows at him, studying the grin Seppuku had. She continued to stand still, thinking deeply about what progress he made on her over the night-and that's when it came to her. Chiya let out a loud gasp and looked at Seppuku's hair-realizing he had taken a shower before leaving, she then looked over at her mom-who was only in a robe, and of course, the ruffled hair. Chiya let out several grunts of shock, she began to shake in disbelief at this, then looked back at Seppuku.

Earl now looked shocked as well, he slowly looked up at Seppuku, "Yo-ou, didn't…"

Seppuku began to chuckle, he then patted the back of the demoralized Chiya, "Yep, whenever she looks at her bed, she'll be thinking of me!" he then ran his flicked his finger at Chiya's nose and began walking away from her. Chiya was left completely stunned.

"Come along Bendek, we're outta' here."

Earl took a last look at Chiya, but she was clearly concentrated on a whole different subject now. He nodded and walked out the door with Seppuku, Chiya remained standing still in the exact position for a few moments. Her eyes were completely frozen along with her horrified face. Fiona hadn't even heard what Seppuku said to Chiya, assuming that she was just stunned over the sad moment she had endured. Chiya momentarily made a low pitched grunt and collapsed onto the floor.

Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz were together in Dark Rose's bedroom, only they were doing something very unusual-they were doing something generous.

"It should be facing her bed, think she'll care if we turn her desk around?" asked Blood Falcon.

Brock shrugged, "Who cares, she can deal with it."

Blood Falcon nodded and placed a television set down on a desk, they then began to spin it around. Brock was growling as they did this, they had also put a movie playing device up with the television.

"We should not be rewarding the young maiden for failing her mission."

Blood Falcon shrugged at Brock, momentarily releasing the desk as it was in perfect position. "She's trying her best, but regardless, just respect that she brightens the organization with her mood."

Brock grunted and rubbed his mohawk, "Since when do you express feelings?"

"Never, but come on, she _is_ the only girl on the team, we shouldn't neglect that or we may lose her," he smirked at Brock as he plugged in the television to the wall, "Maybe if we do this, she'll let us, you know…"

Brock quirked his mouth, "We could violate her if we want, who's going to stop us?"

Blood Falcon shook negatively, "Aw, well where's the game in doing that?" Seppuku stretched and stepped away from the television, "Besides, she's already sad, raping her wouldn't help any of us."

Brock nodded in agreement, "That damn mercenary, Excalibur, she never shuts up about how great he is."

Blood Falcon chuckled, "I could beat em', flashy clothes and a helmet doesn't make him powerful."

"What about his weapons?"

"Impressive, to say the least, but I've dealt with worse before."

Brock stood still for a few moments, then looked over at Blood Falcon slowly, "I've been speaking to master about killing this man."

Blood Falcon smirked, "Kill Excalibur? Why?"

Brock smirked his mouth and shrugged, "He would be better off a recreated puppet-like us."

Blood Falcon nodded in agreement, "Rose would be devastated if we did this though…"

Brock quirked his mouth, "Oh well."

"You really don't care about Rose at all, do you?"

Brock crossed his arms and gritted his teeth, "Chiya Flower killed me one year ago, and Dark Rose is Chiya Flower-she is just a fellow comrade in my eyes, but no friend."

Blood Falcon smirked and crossed his arms together, "Fair enough, I'll join in with you and try to get Black Shadow to kill Excalibur…"

Chiya was beginning to wake up, she could instantly tell that she was in a bed-she was tucked in tightly. She slowly opened her eyes and wiped some saliva away from her mouth.

"…Earl?" she muttered.

"Earl left honey, many hours ago with the Lieutenant," Fiona answered.

Chiya turned her head and found that her mother was sitting in a chair. They were now in Chiya's bedroom, Chiya sighed, realizing that there was no turning back now. The transport left hours ago, if she even had the slightest regret in not leaving with Earl and Seppuku, it was now too late. She was on Mysteria for five more days. Chiya sighed sadly, she then held her forehead-which was now hurting from her hitting the ground so roughly.

"Maybe I shoulda' told him to get me in just three days…""

"Just relax Chiya, if you're going to find Michael Chain, you need to take things one step at a time."

Chiya nodded and laid her head back into her pillow, "We have a machine part made by the Bloody Chain, if I can just track where this came from…"

Fiona smiled, "I would start off at the local body shop, they can probably give you your next lead, like, where to find a store that sells these things."

Chiya nodded slowly, "I wish Genie coulda' told us more about the part, like where he got it."

Fiona lowered her eyebrows at her, "Do not go back to that mansion to ask, I want you to stay away from that mafia at all costs."

"Mom, I gotta' go back anyways to prove that I took care of Chain." Fiona sighed at this, Chiya then closed her eyes, "But yes, naturally, I'll try taking the less risky approach and ask the townspeople first."

"Sounds like a plan."

Chiya groaned and turned her head around, "Do we have any aspirin?"

"No, ever since your little drug involvement with your friends, we've been banned from obtaining prescriptions."

Chiya chuckled sarcastically, "Nice…"

Chiya later stood outside next to the _Purring Kitten_, she found that Earl and Seppuku had dropped off the Bloody Chain machine part-as it was originally meant to go with them back to Mute City aboard the _Red Dove_. Chiya was studying the Chain engine carefully, trying to figure out if this were supercharged or not, if so, it could serve as a backup F-Zero engine. Fiona ran her hand across the side of the _Purring Kitten_ and smiled.

"This is one slick machine you've got Chiya."

Chiya smirked and nodded, "It's the best, better than the Blue Falcon in my eyes."

Fiona chuckled at her and looked back, "I see you rubbed off on the Lieutenant's egoism a bit."

Chiya nodded, "Egoism can be a good thing too you know, it keeps my morale up, better than just thinking that I'm a half-way decent driver, cause' I'll believe that then."

Fiona took her hand off of her machine and hummed at the side of her machine-it lacked many scratches. "You're certainly a slippery one, you probably had the most enemies, yet you took little to no hits."

She nodded at her and stood back up, "Earl always keeps me safe, he warns me of obstacles and incoming enemies, there's no way I'll ever get retired from a race with him holding my shoulders."

Fiona nodded, "Chiya, like I said, don't rush things, play this safely, if you know where Chain is, just come back so we can plan something together."

Chiya smirked at her, "Mom, you're not a tactical-"

"Because let's be honest, there's clearly one person that'll be more sad than me if you die." Chiya lowered her eyebrows and gasped, "Earl, don't let Earl's fears of you dying come true."

Chiya scratched the back of her head, "I doubt Earl could be more sad than you."

Fiona shook negatively as Chiya loaded the engine into her cockpit, "No, I could tell, he would feel much worse than me, but not only because of his appreciation for you, but because he would feel bad for not staying here with you."

Chiya exhaled as she got inside of her machine, "Fine, I'll make this as quick and thorough as possible, while playing it safe."

"And I'm serious Chiya, Michael Chain is a sweet man, try and talk with him before you just go and end his life."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and nodded, but in all actuality, she had no plans of negotiating with Michael Chain. Chiya then closed her cockpit and strapped herself in, Fiona walked back into the house as Chiya grabbed her wheel. If she worked quickly, she could just enjoy the extra days with her mother-maybe even look into contacting Earl at some point. As much as Chiya wanted to speak with Earl, she felt that she could go at least one day without looking into this-doing this so quickly would only make her appear like some clingy woman with an obsession for him.

Chiya drove down the main highway leading to New Edinburgh, she felt sad knowing that she would be doing this for five days. Chiya felt that she would even be missing Seppuku during her time away, however, it could easily be understood why Chiya wanted nothing to do with the man at the time. It had only been hours, but Chiya was already making big plans-wanting to go straight to Bart's café, work on F-Zero machines in the garage, maybe even do another team bowling night-as she now understood the rules better.

Chiya had no idea where this body shop was, and as anti-social as she was, she knew that she was going to have to resort to asking for directions. Chiya stared at the large city in amazement, everything about the city was now much changed-though this wasn't her hometown. Chiya was still planning on visiting her hometown before she left, which she would certainly have time to do. She simply wanted to see whatever came out of the shelled city, wondering if it was rebuilt or completely cleared off the planet. Chiya slowly entered the city, she had every intention of obeying the law to the letter, unlike in Mute City, where she always drove faster than the posted speed limit-feeling that she had some kind of superiority over everyone as she was an F-Zero racer. Chiya didn't want to mess up and get herself killed simply by getting fired at by the military. Mysteria was a mix of an Authoritarian empire and Socialist state-and the military was certainly above shooting its people on sight if desired.

Chiya parked her machine next to a curb and got out quickly, she held the engine in her hands and exhaled as she looked for a good place to start looking. Chiya sarcastically chuckled as she observed all the passing by pedestrians, for some reason, the streets were lacking military personnel. Chiya scratched her head as she began to walk, she approached an intersection with a very primitive looking stop sign-Mysteria was the only planet left in the universe that still used the Octagon shaped stop signs-most planets had something electrical or simply different shaped. The entire city of New Edinburgh was practically just a 21st century styled city-little of it actually contained lights.

Chiya widened her eyes as the loud sound of an incoming whistle could be heard coming from her rear. She dropped the box on the ground and grunted, quickly ducking down-and this is what saved her life. A sharp dagger had struck the stop sign with extreme force, completely penetrating the metal. Chiya looked up at the dagger and gasped at the black and red metal that was around the handle.

"Oh, sho-oot…"

She then got up and spun around, it was then that she could see Dark Rose charging towards her while laughing maniacally, she was running towards her like a bullet-using her abnormal agility against Chiya. Rose only appeared prepared to punch Chiya however, as she had her fist in the air as she ran. Chiya quickly got a challenging look and stomped her feet down into position, getting in a Seoli Idong combat stance.

"I've had enough of you!" Chiya shouted.

Rose then ran straight into Chiya, punching her right across the face. Chiya had easily countered this however and grabbed her arm-tossing her right over her shoulder with great force. Rose fell to the ground and growled as she quickly sprung back up with an insane smile. Chiya rubbed her cheek after getting hit square in the face, both combatants now got in a Seoli Idong stance. Rose and Chiya stared off with each other, Chiya hadn't entered a fully Korean sparring match since she met up with Excalibur last time. Chiya studied Rose's eyes carefully, trying to figure her out-unlike Earl, she was smiling evilly-but like Blood Falcon, this was just an automatic expression they had. She could be either scared, angry, or even determined for all Chiya knew. _I have more experience and lessons under my belt than her, she was cloned only when I started Seoli Idong, I must still have the upper hand…_

Chiya kept a bland look on her face, much like Earl does, this way Rose would never figure out Chiya's confidence levels. Chiya stared at her legs and fist, preparing to use a tactic Earl had taught her that Rose wouldn't have. Rose then swiftly reached out for Chiya's hand-but Chiya blocked the attack and slid to her side quickly. Rose gasped as Chiya then wrapped her leg around Rose's and forced her arm around Chiya's. Chiya then began to lift Rose up into the air and spun her around for a few moments-it was basically just wrestling.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hey now!"

Chiya shouted and tossed Rose against the wall of a building, Rose immediately hit the ground and groaned. She now had slight blood running down her lip, but she somehow retained her evil smirk.

"Compared to the various punishments I get, this pain is nothing…" she hissed at Chiya.

Chiya narrowed her eyes and shook negatively, "Rose, just leave our mom alone, she has nothing to do with Black Shadow or his apparent master plan."

Rose snapped her fingers and laughed, "You'll always be priority one in my list to kill, but I know that by killing mom, you'll lose morale and begin to mush up," she then chuckled, "Making the joy of killing you eventually even greater!"

Chiya became infuriated by this and landed another punch across Rose's face, Rose then grabbed her arm and pulled her right up against her, punching her in the center of her face. Chiya was knocked down to the ground quickly, Rose then looked up at the stop sign and began moving in for her dagger. Chiya slowly got back on her knees and gasped as she saw Rose moving in for the weapon.

Rose grasped the handle of her dagger, but was then knocked into the metal bar of the sign by Chiya. Rose growled as she then grabbed Chiya's neck, she immediately let out a disgruntled shout of agony as Rose's nails dug into her skin slightly. Chiya's head was then knocked down to the ground as Rose very violently pushed down on Chiya's lungs. Chiya began to panic as Rose held one of her hands down with her knee while strangling Chiya. Chiya desperately punched the side of Rose's face, but Rose simply got a growing laughter as she pushed harder on Chiya's throat. Chiya's eyes began to water as soon as she realized that Rose was winning, Rose stared into Chiya's dying eyes-a drop of blood about to drip right off of Rose's nose onto Chiya's face. Chiya began to slap Rose constantly-desperately trying anything at this point, but it was too late. Chiya began to lose energy as she dropped her hand down, having lost too much oxygen.

"Just let go Chiya…" Rose muttered silently to the dying woman.

A slight tear began to roll off of Chiya's left eye. Rose got a serious look on her face as she realized that she had won, Chiya was no longer able to fight, she was powering down. Rose was then completely blown away from Chiya, a bullet gliding right through both of her cheeks. Chiya could just slightly make off the sight of Rose's eyes glancing back at her while in midair, a massive amount of blood trailing her as she hit the ground. Chiya remained on the ground, now breathing in quickly-but she was still too exhausted to get up, praying that she would be saved. Rose stood up and held her cheek in disbelief, wondering where the bullet had come from.

"Wha- what!?"

Rose was then shot again, this time above her left breast. She let out a scream and fell back down onto her knees. Chiya momentarily began to sit up, finally doing something she should have done in the first place-she grabbed her handgun and aimed at Rose. Rose was now hyperventilating as she looked over at her shooter-it was a man in a cream colored dress coat, thick oval glasses, and blonde combed back hair. He was aiming a handgun with one hand at Rose.

"Run along now little girl, ey'?"

Rose continued to tremble in fear, having two guns now situated on her, Chiya was pressing against her trigger, wanting to fire at Rose's head-but she couldn't find the strength to do it. Rose quickly turned around and began running away quickly, with her superhuman speed, she was gone within seconds.

Chiya put her handgun away and exhaled in relief, the man then held his hand out towards her, "Ello'."

Chiya blinked a few times at the very English sounding man, she then grasped his hand and stood up, "Oh, hello," she then dipped her head down, "Thank you for saving me sir."

The man nodded at her, "Chiya Flower, I presume?"

Chiya grunted and nodded her head, "Y- yes, do I know you?"

The man smirked and shook negatively, "No, no…" he then holstered his pistol and picked up a book that he had dropped. "I'm a Mysterian Philosopher, my name is Edward."

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and began to hum in confusion, "A philosiphyist?"

He shook negatively, "N- no, but never mind that, I was simply passing by and spotted the Purring Kitten, and of course, the sight of the racer herself getting attacked."

Chiya nodded, "My dark clone."

"A dark clone?"

"A witch."

"Well, she did appear to be very witch-like."

Chiya held up the boxed engine again and exhaled, "Say, I'm trying to get a lead on this engine, trying to find the manufacturers-have any ideas where I should go?"

Edward rubbed his chin and adjusted his glasses, "Perhaps somewhere that is familiar with these parts?"

Chiya puckered her lips and nodded, "Yes, but where can I find one of these places?"

Edward began to put bullets in his handgun again, "If you don't mind, I would be more than willing to bring you to various locations," he then smirked at her, "In case you are attacked again."

Chiya closed her eyes and exhaled, "I- I have a boyfriend already."

Edward raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm in my late thirties, and have a wife, I'm merely a seeker of knowledge and can always learn from such little tasks."

Chiya nodded at him, "Very well, please show me around a little."

Chiya and Edward had entered various body shops and stores, asking about the engine-but no one seemed to be of any help, however, it seemed that every person they asked about the engine knew about the Bloody Chain. To Chiya's surprise, every one of them said the same thing as Fiona, that Michael Chain was some polite business owner. Chiya wasn't finding this very believable, she was certain that Michael Chain was playing coy so he could build up his gang once more, then eventually, he would return to Mute City and reassume control of the Lower City, this time without Red Star to fight.

Chiya and Edward were waiting together inside of a junkyard waiting area, the owner was busy inspecting the engine and looking through files, seeing if he could get any information for Chiya. Chiya exhaled and tapped her fingers on her cheek constantly.

"What is the nature of your beef with Michael Chain?" asked Edward.

Chiya shrugged, "I fought his gang on Earth for awhile, he got away, fled to Mysteria, and now we've been tasked to finish the job."

"We've?"

Chiya glanced up at him with a startled look, "I belong to a three-man vigilante group, the Galactic Federation is holding a knife to our throat however, demanding that we kill him-or face prison time."

"Oh my."

"Luckily, they did drop that part, now the deal is that if I kill Michael Chain, they'll sign off in an alliance with us in the Grand Prix-mainly so we can stop Blood Falcon."

Edward nodded, "That's it then?"

Chiya hesitated to respond, she lowered her eyebrows suspiciously, it was as if he knew there was a second part to the predicament, "Yes, actually, the mobster known as Don Genie won't let my mother off of this debt until Michael Chain is dealt with."

Edward nodded, "Ah, so it's a matter of self gain then, ey'?"

Chiya shook negatively, "That's not it at all, I'm just trying to keep the universe safe from Black Shadow, and help my mom out of a slump that she shouldn't be in."

Edward continued to stare at her for a few moments, the manager of the junkyard momentarily came back and placed some papers in Edward's hand.

"There you go sir."

Edward looked down at the paper, but then handed it over to Chiya. Chiya immediately lowered her eyes and began to study the papers carefully, she then widened her eyes-she found that Don Genie had acquired the engine from this very junkyard. The important bit of information she found, however, was where the junkyard obtained the part. Edward raised an eyebrow at Chiya as she continued reading every bit of information she could see.

"I need that back when you're done with it," said the manager.

"New Ontario."

Edward smirked at Chiya, "That's where Michael Chain is?"

Chiya handed the papers back to the manager, "Maybe, it's where this engine was brought from-which gives me a new lead."

Edward crossed his arms together and nodded, "That's about ninety miles away, will you be leaving today?"

Chiya sighed and shook negatively, "I will tomorrow morning, I'll probably need all day to ask everyone about this engine," she then stood up and shook the managers hand, "Thank you for your time sir."

Chiya and Edward then began walking away from the junkyard, she approached Edward's vehicle and got inside, quickly buckling up. Edward got in the drivers seat and glanced over at Chiya, "So back to your machine then?"

Chiya nodded, "Yes," Chiya then began writing something down on a piece of paper she found on the vehicle's dashboard. Edward raised an eyebrow at her as he quickly began to drive, she then handed the paper to him. "That's my address, if you have any way of helping me, don't hesitate to go there, even if I'm not home, you can speak with my mother."

Edward nodded, "Alright then, I'll keep my ears open for any information I may come across."

Chiya nodded, then slowly looked over at him, "Ju- just, don't get too involved with my mother…"

Edward raised an eyebrow at her, "Hm?"

Chiya let out a sickened groan and held her stomach, "Oh, nothing…"

To be continued…


	52. Lap 51

==Lap 51=

Seppuku kicked his office door open with a gleeful smile on his face, he walked down the main hallway of the base ecstatically. He ran his hand across the wall as he moved, it was a rare occasion where Seppuku was happy. He found Mauser sitting around in the hallway and picked him up quickly, Seppuku hugged the cat and let him go momentarily. Seppuku continued moving down the hallway joyously, everything was perfect for Seppuku. He was back at his beloved base, he took fourth place, he scored on Chiya's mom, and Jody wasn't throwing him in prison for failing to kill Michael Chain; there was only one thing, however, that was making Seppuku the happiest.

Seppuku happily passed by Chiya's room, immediately chuckling at the darkness.

"Four more freaking days…" he muttered excitedly.

Seppuku was free of Chiya's silly person for four more days, a break he was thankful for, however, he wouldn't be feeling good if Chiya indeed ended up dead-but for the time being, he was assuming that Chiya was sleeping in her bed on Mysteria as he walked. Seppuku walked past both Earl and Chiya's rooms, making his way quickly to the garage. Seppuku had assigned Earl to work on the _Red Dove_ the previous night as a punishment for not warning him about the bullets the machine had taken during the parade. It was the first time Earl would be working on the _Red Dove_ without Chiya distracting him in more than a year-and Seppuku knew that Earl was a very good worker when not preoccupied.

Seppuku excitedly kicked open the garage door, but immediately gasped angrily at what he was seeing. The _Red Dove_ was still very beaten up, still had bullet holes, and still had the visible scrapes that the vehicle had taken. The only thing that was different was that it appeared to be cleaned off. Earl was just sitting in a chair next to it, making very slow and weak wipes with a cloth. Seppuku began to growl as he stared at him.

"Bendek, what the Hell is this?"

Earl looked back at him with a shocked look, "Oh, afternoon."

"I ask again, what the Hell is this?"

Earl sighed and shrugged, he then turned his head towards the _Red Dove_ sadly, "Y'know, I remember how hard it was for me the last time Chiya went somewhere for five days, but this is much harder. The worst part is, it's only been one day…" Seppuku continued to growl at him as Earl sat sadly, "I've become so accustomed to waking up every day, one of the first things I see is that girls happy face, always having something cheery to say…"

Earl then let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Last night was terrible for me, trying to sleep knowing that Chiya could be out on Mysteria, without my protection, where she could just be killed, raped, captured, tortured-it's hard for me to compreh-"

"What the Hell is this..?"

Earl glanced back at the _Red Dove_ and cleared his throat, "What? I cleaned it up pretty fast, what am I doing wrong?"

Seppuku sighed and shook negatively, "I thought Chiya being gone was going to positively effect the way you work, I assumed that you'd be done with the whole thing today."

Earl sighed again and nodded, "Yeah, sorry, I'm sure I'll get better tomorrow…"

Earl then continued to wipe the body of the _Red Dove_ carelessly, Seppuku lowered his eyebrows and gritted his teeth. Earl was clearly in a bad state, mostly fearing what was to become of Chiya, this was directly effecting his mood and was holding him back from doing quality work.

Seppuku sighed and lifted Earl off his feet, "Take a day soldier, you're pretty much useless today."

Earl gasped, but then dipped his head down and sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I know…"

Seppuku then climbed aboard the _Red Dove_ and buckled himself in, "Just take a day off, I'm gonna' go for a ride."

Earl nodded and watched as Seppuku quickly took off from the garage. Earl let out another sigh and momentarily collapsed onto his workbench, he rubbed his forehead as he continued to fear for the worst. He momentarily looked down in the garbage bin and lowered his eyebrows, he could see the opened package that once contained the machine part ring-the one Chiya mistook for a wedding ring. Earl smirked and took it out of the garbage, he then looked at the package-which was very crumpled looking, as Chiya had gotten rough with it after learning what it actually was.

Earl chuckled as he stared at the package, finding both good and bad memories from this day. While he was finding things to chuckle at about this, he soon descended into a more saddened state; never realizing just how disappointed she was. Earl sighed as he stared at the package more, finally grabbing his face in frustration.

"Oh Chiya, I can only begin to imagine what trouble you might be in…"

Chiya and Fiona both had very panicked looks on their face, Fiona rubbed her chin while shaking negatively.

"Oh man Chiya, you _re-eally _did it this time…"

"I'm sorry!" Chiya panicked back.

Fiona continued to shake her head in disbelief, "I knew you were bad, but not this bad!"

Chiya held her face sadly, "I just don't know how this could have happened…"

"Earl was a man before, but I think even he would find this a bit too disgusting…"

Chiya grabbed the collar of Fiona's shirt and gasped, "You can't tell Earl about this! You can't!"

Fiona nodded affirmatively, "Oh trust me, Earl can never find out about this…"

Fiona then opened up a garbage bin and dumped a full plate of pitch black cookies. Chiya once again attempted to make cookies, but she did even worse this time-there was no pigment left on the cookies at all. Chiya dipped her head down in shame as her mom came walking back up to her.

"Sweetie, even in this day and age, men are still usually the workers and providers for a family, doing stuff like cooking and baking is something a woman _has_ to know about."

Chiya shot a distressed look at her, "Stop being sexist mom, and I _can_ bake, I did everything right to the letter!"

Fiona cringed and shook negatively, "Chiya, if you could bake, we would've seen the slightest amount of pigment in that cookie-but that was practically solid ash." Chiya let out a long sigh and closed her eyes, Fiona then raised an eyebrow at her, "Were you paying attention to the oven?"

Chiya nodded, "Yes! I did the calculations and everything, twenty minutes, two thousand degrees."

Fiona widened her eyes, "Two thousa- what? Well obviously we have our first problem solved…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows angrily, "What? What did I do wrong?"

Fiona picked up the cookie box and began studying the instructions, "You measured in cups?" Chiya nodded, "You let it heat up at the temperature listed on the oven?"

Chiya looked over at the oven and read a label, "Warm it up to thirty, yes."

Fiona nodded, "You divided the warm-up heat of the oven by ten thousand?"

Chiya nodded hesitantly, Fiona then rubbed her chin, "A-and you got two thousand from that..?"

Chiya nodded, "Yeah, I did."

Fiona lowered her eyebrows, "Show me the math please." Fiona then slid a piece of paper to Chiya, she looked down at the paper fearfully, then swallowed. Chiya pulled out her stylist pencil and began writing the numbers down. It only took Fiona mere seconds to find Chiya's first problem. "Sweetie, yo- you're multiplying right now…"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows and growled as she began to erase the numbers, Chiya then wrote the numbers down again, but was hesitating to set up the math problem. Fiona raised an eyebrow at Chiya as she tapped the pencil down constantly with a frantic look, Chiya continuously glanced up at her with a fearful look-she then put an addition sign to the side of the numbers and began adding them together.

Fiona grabbed Chiya's hand and stopped her from writing, Chiya then grunted with sad eyes and looked back up at her, Fiona had a frown on her face, "You're twenty-four, and you still struggle in math?"

Chiya immediately took offense to this and crumpled up the paper, "Dammit mom, I have a mathematics disability, you know that! It's kind of why I was a Special Ed. Student ya' know…"

Fiona sighed and nodded, "Yes, that's right, you always had Abigail help you with your math work."

Chiya pouted and got a hurt look on her face, "That wasn't right, Abby was the younger sister, _I_ should have been the one helping _her_ with math."

Fiona bit her lip while her eyes quivered, "D- does Earl know about your math complications?"

"No!" Fiona widened her eyes at Chiya's quick and loud response, Chiya then gasped slightly at her own outburst, "I- I mean, I wouldn't care, he's just my friend…" Chiya then sighed and dipped her head down, "But he's so smart, I don't want him to know that I'm a bloody idiot when it comes to math…"

Fiona nodded and crossed her arms together, "Chiya, when you and Earl get married, he'll expect you to have a-"

"Marry Earl!? Who said I'm marrying Earl!? H- he's just my friend!" she defended while blushing.

Fiona rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Sweetie, you two are more than just friends, come on…"

Chiya dipped her head down and glanced away with a red face, Fiona then sighed and smirked, "When you get married to _someone_, he'll appreciate seeing a well made dinner on the table-that's one of the best things a guy can ask for."

Chiya sighed and nodded in agreement, rubbing the back of her head with a shy look, "Earl would appreciate it if I had something for him everyday…" she muttered softly.

"Mhm."

Chiya got a frustrated look and let out a heavy sigh, "Well, whatever, I'm a dummy…" She then began walking away from the oven with a sad look.

"Chiya-a…" Fiona said while reaching out for her.

Chiya walked up to the door and shrugged, "I'm heading to New Ontario, gotta' find Michael Chain, or at least a new lead today if I want to stay on schedule."

Fiona quickly grabbed her arm, Chiya widened her eyes and looked back. Fiona smiled at her and patted her back, "Have you considered asking Earl to tutor you on math?"

Chiya slid back with a shocked look, "N- no! Certainly not!" she puckered her lips and lowered her eyebrows, "He'll think I'm incapable of doing simple stuff, and will never like me then…"

Fiona shook negatively with a smile, "Oh Chiya, Earl won't think any less of you, he'll probably respect you for opening up to him about one of your flaws."

Chiya grunted with a saddened look, she then dipped her head down, "W- whatever, I don't need math anyways…"

Fiona shook negatively, "You should at least be open with him about it, heck, at the very least he might tell you about one of _his_ bad qualities."

Earl doesn't have any imperfections, he's perfect…

Chiya thought in frustration. Chiya sighed and looked back at the door, "I'll try and get back home as fast as I can, though if I learn that Michael Chain is in New Ontario, I'm gonna' have this dealt with before I get back."

Fiona nodded at her, "Okay, when you get back, we'll practice making dishes-like salad, how about that?"

Chiya smiled and nodded, "That's a great idea! I can become a perfectionist at making food like that!"

Fiona smiled and patted her back, "Well good luck, and remember, don't put yourself at risk too early-don't let Earl down Chiya, make sure you're at the starport first thing in the morning in four days."

Chiya sighed and then chuckled, "You're really nosey about me and Earl, mom…"

Fiona glared and flailed her hands in the air, "Well I want some bloody grandchildren already!"

About two hours later, Dark Rose sat in front of a mirror in a New Edinburgh hotel. She was rubbing her cheek and looking inside of her mouth for further damage from the bullets. Black Shadow designed all of his creations to have reconstructive powers-despite the fact that Rose had both cheeks become ruptured by the bullet, they had made a full recovery and appeared as soft as ever. Rose knew little about how this works, this was one of her first major injuries that she had endured, the first being when Earl stabbed her in the neck-which could be argued as being much more life threatening to her. The simple fact was that Brock, Blood Falcon, and Dark Rose didn't need blood to survive.

Rose lifted her shirt up and looked at her breast, there was no sign of damage in this area either. She exhaled and dropped her shirt again. Rose then quirked her mouth and lowered her eyebrows in frustration.

"Damn that man, Chiya was about to die, I could tell…" She then began to chuckle aloud, "It's becoming clear to me that Chiya has many Guardian Angels."

Rose then chuckled loudly and turned her head towards the bed that was in the room. She walked up to it and leapt on it happily, immediately stretching on the more qualitative furniture. Rose was not staying in this hotel legally, she had simply slipped by the hotel managers and broke inside-she enjoyed a night in an actual bed, rather than her usual mattress back in her own room.

Rose stared at the ceiling with a blank expression, she was now entering a heavy thought-momentarily lowering her eyebrows. _Kill Chiya, take her friends and family…_ she pondered in her mind. Rose was now considering a different plan, as she had proven capable of killing Chiya, she now wondered if it were possible to kill only Chiya, and once again disguise herself as Chiya. Though Rose had a much stranger idea, she was actually considering the idea of doing this, but rejoining Seppuku's organization-pretending to be Chiya. The only challenge would be to fool Earl, who clearly knew the difference between the two very well.

Rose sighed and shook negatively, "No way that would work…"

Rose continued to lay with a sad look on her face, she truly did miss many aspects of her life while inside Chiya-mainly the most beloved parts, such as: Mauser, Earl, F-Zero, and simple freedom.

Rose widened her eyes and gasped as her communicator began to ring from a table-only there was but one person she had connected to her communicator. She fell off of her bed clumsily but immediately got on her knees and crawled over to the mirror. She jolted her head up frantically and grabbed the communicator.

"Uh, uh, h- hello!"

"Rose," Excalibur greeted.

Rose revealed an ecstatic smile and nodded, "Yes, hi-i!"

"Black Shadow wants to know, what progress have you made so far?"

Rose sighed and looked at her fingernails, "Oh, I just nearly had her killed yesterday, but some bloke came and shot me up a few times-thus saving her life."

Excalibur hesitated to respond, he then cleared his throat, "I want you to stop with this mission, there's more important matters to attend to."

Rose gasped and lowered her eyebrows, "What? Like what?"

Excalibur didn't answer the question, though he made a low pitched growl, "Just stop chasing her around, it's pointless, Earl Bendek and Lieutenant Seppuku are the real heads of the organization, you should work on them."

"I don't hate Earl, and I'm not allowed to kill Seppuku."

"Regardless, you need to stop the mission, before you get yourself killed."

Rose smiled at his concern for her, "Thank you Excalibur, b- but I'm going to give this another go, tomorrow, if I don't kill Chiya or our mother, then we can talk about me extracting."

"No, I already told you, we need you around, and you're just as vulnerable as Chiya is." Rose gritted her teeth somewhat offended at the comparison, finding the equality in his words unfitting for a villain, "Just get back to the ship whenever you can, forget about your little tension with Chiya."

Rose smirked and shrugged, "Okay, I'll stop then," she lied.

"Good, I'll see you soon then."

Excalibur then turned off his communicator, leaving Rose with an excited look, "He'll be excited when I come back and present Chiya's bloody stock hat to him," she then began to chuckle as she laid back down on the bed, "That'll impress him…"

Rose then yawned and laid her head back down on the pillow, preparing to rest for the following day-where she would attempt to assassinate Chiya and Fiona yet again.

Chiya much later in the day arrived at New Ontario, the drive wasn't very long however, as she had an F-Zero machine. She was sitting along a curb, sitting on the box that contained the Bloody Chain engine; she sighed and patted her cheeks as she contemplated where to start looking.

This bloody city is so large; it'll take me forever to get a lead…

she thought in frustration. Chiya was also scanning her surroundings very carefully, now on her toes knowing that Dark Rose was hunting her. She let out a hum of discontent and sighed. _I don't know Edward at all, but this sure woulda' been easier if I brought him along…_

"Is there a problem ma'am?" asked a woman's loud voice.

Chiya widened her eyes at the sound of the authoritative tone, she looked up and found a Mysterian soldier standing tall in front of her—an assault rifle in her hands. Chiya stared at the woman's jackboots and rubbed her head as she stood up.

"No- wait, yes, er- I'm just taking a rest…" The soldier raised an eyebrow at her, her hair was tucked into her helmet—but Chiya could tell that this was a long haired woman. Chiya swallowed nervously and looked into her eyes, "I'm trying to track down the origin of this engine."

The soldier held her chin and looked down at the box, she ultimately shook negatively and shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you about that, but-"

The soldier then let out a light gasp as she looked into Chiya's eyes. Chiya widened her eyes back fearfully, even if Fiona claimed that her bounty had been dropped—Chiya was still always prepared to discover that this may be a trap, and that they merely said this to lure her back. The two continued to stare at eachother, the soldier then lowered her eyes and rubbed on her helmet somewhat shyly. Chiya lowered her eyebrows and cleared her throat, still waiting to hear the end of her response. The soldier momentarily pulled out a piece of paper and handed her a pen.

Chiya grunted and grabbed both items, then looked up at her. The soldier revealed a faint smile and shrugged, "I'm a fan…"

Chiya then gasped and began to turn red, "Oh, well then!" Chiya smiled and began signing her name on the piece of paper, the soldier looked back down at the box as she wrote and rubbed her chin, "Well, actually, perhaps if you asked some of the business owners that work with machine parts-"

Chiya nodded as she carefully made straight letters, "I know, where can I find these places?"

The soldier kicked her feet together and cleared her throat, "Ma'am, you will find most vehicular shops in the Lower City."

Chiya widened her eyes at the mentioning of the Lower City—only she was referring to the lower parts of New Ontario, much like the lower parts of Mute City that she lived in. Chiya nodded and finished the autograph with a perfectly rounded flower. She handed it back to her and nodded, "Thank you, you don't know how important this information is to me."

The soldier looked at the autograph and smiled, "This is great, my fiancé said he was gonna' track you down and get an autograph for me—looks like he'll have to find a new gift!"

Chiya smiled and clapped her hands together, "Congratulations! I myself have somewhat of a fiancé, from a certain point of view." Chiya then stood up and pointed at the flower, "That's how you know that the autograph is legitimate."

The soldier carefully put it in her combat sack and nodded, "A married F-Zero pilot, that might hurt your rep a bit…"

Chiya frowned and nodded, but then got a smile on her face, "I'll be honest, I value love more than F-Zero."

The soldier smiled and bowed to her, "Sorry for pestering you…" She then held her arm up in the air towards her, "Long live the Mysterian Empire and her majesty!"

Chiya lowered her eyebrows again, hesitating to return the salute. For the majority of her life, Chiya had grown up believing that Mysteria was the greatest universal power in the world—she even went on believing this at her current age. After listening to Earl lecture so much about the lies, imperialism, famine, and corrupt military—she felt somewhat broken. Her patriotism for her home planet's government was slowly fading as she began to grasp the actuality of everything.

Chiya slightly nodded and raised her hand up, "To her majesty…"

The soldier then held her rifle again and began moving down the sidewalk, returning to her patrol duty. Chiya closed her eyes and sighed, she knew she was failing her father in one way or another—as her father wanted her to remain a proud patriot and Socialist—both of which she was failing to do. As far as Socialism went, Chiya had no idea where her political stance was, it could be argued that she sided with the Left, though she knew little about politics and would typically agree with whatever Earl sided in.

Chiya finally got back up on her feet and held up the engine, she then scanned the streets for the Lower City—if it were anything like the Lower City back on Mute City, it would be a dark and slummy looking area.

About thirty minutes later, Fiona was cleaning up Chiya's room. She had a smirk on her face as she looked at the mess she had left. Earl's jacket was wrapped around her pillow, the _Panzer Heil!_ board game remained on the floor with game components scattered across the floor, plates of food was left around, and of course, Chiya's laundry was all over the ground. Fiona found a white t-shirt on the ground and raised an eyebrow, before realizing that this wasn't Chiya's shirt. Fiona walked up to the bag Chiya brought with her and put Earl's shirt inside of it, making sure that Chiya wouldn't forget to bring it back with her.

Fiona wasn't necessarily pleased with Chiya's sloppy lifestyle, she was even a bit pestered that Earl left his shirt on the floor, however, she couldn't become angry at this—she was too heartwarmed to once again have a daughter to tend to. Fiona walked up to Earl's jacket and ran her hand across it, she could tell by the marks on it that he had been through his fair share of situations as well.

Fiona was then startled at the sound of knocking at the door. She widened her eyes, trying to think who would possibly be at _her_ door. She immediately pranced over to the front door while thinking who this may be.

"Perhaps Earl or the Lieutenant came back early?" she pondered aloud.

This was in all actuality, a good observation, as nothing was stopping Earl and Seppuku from returning to Mysteria. She knew Earl wanted to be at Chiya's side as soon as possible, and quite frankly, it wouldn't surprise either of them if he tried reaching Chiya in person so early. Fiona unlocked the door, but then cringed at what she had done—now thinking of what may go wrong, such as the possibility of Dark Rose being at the door. She slightly moved the curtain of the door aside and could see an unfamiliar face behind the door, though the person didn't appear dangerous to her, so she opened it.

Fiona raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat, Edward was standing firmly with a paper in his hands.

"Oh dear, are you by chance, from the Collection Agency?"

Edward shook negatively, "No, I'm a Philosopher, but that's aside from the point," he said in a heavy English accent. He then handed her the paper, "Is Ms. Chiya Flower home?"

Fiona looked down at the paper and lowered her eyebrows, "No, she left for New Ontario a few hours ago, can I relay a message to her?"

Edward bowed, "My name is Edward, I helped your daughter obtain a lead on an engine yesterday; she told me to come here if I received any information that may be of assistance to her."

Fiona nodded, "Excellent, what is this then?"

"I received information from a credible resource that Michael Chain applied for a loan in the city of Engelland." Edward pointed to the paper and nodded, "From an agency by the name of _Angel Kiss_."

Fiona sighed and crossed her arms together, "Engelland, that's only a few miles from here…" she then gave the paper a heavy stare, specifically at the name _Engelland_. Images of bombs going off, death, and panic instantly flashed into her head. She then looked up at him, "Chiya's going to have an emotionally hard time going back there, I can just tell…"

Edward nodded respectfully, "I can imagine, after all she had gone through."

Fiona then narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, _And how exactly, does he know about this..?_ she thought somewhat hostilely. Edward stretched his arms out and smirked, "I hope this provides Chiya with an alternative lead, if all else fails with the engine."

Fiona nodded at him, "It's fairly cold out dear, would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

He shook negatively, "Can't say I'm parched right now, thank you for the offer though."

Fiona nodded at him and smiled, "Well thank you for this bit of information."

Edward nodded and stepped away, moving back to his vehicle quickly. Fiona continued to stare at him as he walked, then looked back down at the paper. She was somewhat confused to see Michael Chain taking out yet another loan, though this wasn't what she found odd. This was a completely legal loan, unlike the loans they took from Don Genie. Fiona bit on her finger and sighed, continuing to fret about Chiya's intentions with Michael Chain. Fiona simply couldn't believe that Michael Chain was a bad person that deserved death.

"I recognize some of the parts used to make this engine, but this is custom made without a doubt," a mechanic explained to Chiya.

Chiya sighed and rubbed the back of her head, "I see, where do you recognize the parts from?"

The mechanic smirked and crossed his arms, "New Edinburgh, ol' pal of mine by the name of Dave; I recognize these parts easily."

Chiya stomped her foot down and growled, "Bloody Hell, I was just there…"

"Do you want me to call him?"

Chiya sighed and shook negatively, "No, I can come to him—I live just a bit away from New Edinburgh."

The mechanic nodded and began writing down an address on a very dirty and torn up piece of paper. Chiya couldn't help but exhale in relief, whether she liked the results or not, she now had another lead. Luckily for her, the pieces were now coming together, she could assume that Michael Chain had bought these parts himself, meaning she was closing in on his location quickly. The last fear she had, however, was whether this person would be able to help her—if he couldn't provide Chiya with the information she needed, she would be on a dead trail.

The mechanic handed her the paper and nodded, "You must live quite a bit away, want me to fix up your machine while you're still here?"

Chiya grunted and widened her eyes, "H- how does everyone know who I am?"

He smirked back at her and stretched, "Well, you're the first Mysterian racer, I wouldn't go as far as saying that we're forced to, but the government sort of shoves Chiya Flower related things down our throats all the time. Therefore many of us like you, especially since you're fighting evil on the track."

Chiya got a prideful look and smirked, "That's right, me and Lieutenant Seppuku." Chiya then lowered her eyebrows and cleared her throat, "Uh, but no thank you, I really need to use every minute I have on this planet wisely," she puckered her lips and got up to him, "I'm on a secret mission!" she whispered playfully.

Only about an hour later, Chiya opened the front door of her house. She entered with a very frantic look on her face, she had no plans of working in the dark—so she wanted to get as much progress made as she could before the sun went down.

"Mom!" Chiya called out.

She began to walk into the kitchen, initially fearful of the lack of a response. Chiya remained still in the kitchen, it was the only room that appeared lit up. She gritted her teeth and began to panic, the first thing that went through Chiya's mind was that she had to find Dark Rose; assuming that she had kidnapped her. Fortunately, Fiona came walking out of her bedroom and immediately turned into the kitchen. Chiya exhaled in relief and stood up tall.

"I got a new lead, some guy in New Edinburgh sold some parts to Michael Chain, if I find him, I can possibly get some more information about Chain's whereabouts."

Fiona then roughly handed Chiya the paper Edward had given her. Chiya grunted and blinked at the paper a few times in confusion, she then looked up at Fiona.

"Some man named Edward came by earlier, said he found this."

Chiya widened her eyes and quickly flipped the paper over, she read the contents carefully, then widened her eyes and gasped. She nodded approvingly but now had a disturbed look on her face.

"I- is this town still, you know, destroyed?"

Fiona shook negatively, "Engelland is now rebuilt, not as nicely, but it indeed stands today after such a bombing."

Chiya continued to stare at the paper in fear, instantly reminded of the horrifying moments of the bombing—mainly the part where her Dad was blown up and school destroyed right in front of her. Chiya swallowed and broadened her shoulders as she sighed.

"This will be very hard for me…"

"What will you do then? You now have two leads."

Chiya gritted her teeth and looked at both the address she had, and the paper Edward had provided them with. Ultimately, the information Edward discovered was likely her best shot at finding Chain—as the agency could possibly give her his address. Chiya lowered her eyebrows with a panicked look, trying to decide which one to pursue. She momentarily sighed and set both papers on the table, she looked out and could see the sky slowly dimming. She then nodded and sat down in a chair.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow for sure, I'll go and try both of these leads out."

Fiona smiled at her, "Good, considering you still have three days to kill after this, you really have all the time you could need to speak with Michael."

Chiya held her face and shook negatively, "Mom, I really-" she then lowered her eyebrows in frustration, suddenly deciding not to argue with her about what was right and wrong. Fiona had a raised eyebrow at her as she waited for her to finish. Chiya then sighed, "I re-eally, should go through this lesson about making food…"

Fiona then smiled and nodded, "Oh, why of course, we'll work on this Michael Chain predicament tomorrow."

A bit later, Chiya and Fiona were once again in the kitchen. Fiona had several vegetables out on the table with a bowl, Chiya now had an apron on. Fiona handed Chiya a knife and pointed at her.

"Just start cutting up the vegetables, but gently, fine cuts creates a better appearance to the dish."

Chiya stuck her tongue out and slowly cut down on a tomato, she lowered her eyebrows at the sight of the juice coming off onto the blade. Fiona widened her eyes as Chiya then began to quickly cut it into slices.

"Sweetie, I said gently!"

Chiya stopped and dipped her head down, "I- I'm sorry…"

Fiona then gasped and looked down at the slices-they were perfectly cut, "Wha- what? Woah…"

Chiya raised an eyebrow at her, Fiona then put a carrot in front of her, "Chop that up as fast as you can."

Chiya got a puzzled look on her face, but momentarily began to chop the carrot into several pieces. Fiona immediately looked down at the carrot and gasped, "Wow Chiya! You're a natural at that!"

"At what? Chopping vegetables?"

"Well, look how straight you cut them."

Chiya then looked at the cuts, and realized what she meant-they were perfectly cut down. No curves, just a perfect horizontal cut. Chiya shrugged at her, "It's just cut food, what's the big deal?"

Fiona clapped her hands together happily, "You could make really good looking dishes, but, you can probably do this faster than most people."

Chiya puckered her lips excitedly, "So that's it then." Fiona raised an eyebrow at her, Chiya then smiled with a determined look, "Show me how to make a dish."

She held the knife tightly, "I'm gonna' become a perfectionist at this!"

With Chiya now motivated to master a skill, and Michael Chain becoming closed onto, it was becoming clear to Chiya that these few days she has with her mother, could be a good thing. The inevitable reunion with Earl would be very heartwarming and exciting, and Chiya would possibly finally have something that her friends might enjoy. Good looking dishes.

To be continued…


End file.
